St. Thomas the Apostle Parish

Homily for Wednesday of the 2nd Week of Easter

Here in New England, evenings are getting longer, with daylight stretching to just about 7:30 p.m. Most of us are glad to have more daylight at this time of year, but our spirits often drop later when the days grow shorter. While many of us treasure the light, the Gospel passage from John reminds us that sometimes people choose darkness over light.

 

However, John isn’t talking about natural light—he’s talking about Jesus, described as the "Light of the World." Jesus teaches that anyone who lives by the truth and truly seeks it will come into the light. Even if they don’t realize it, they already stand in the light of God’s grace. People of faith share this light with all who seek the truth, letting themselves be guided by the light of Christ.

Tuesday of the 2nd Week of Easter

In today's Gospel passage, Nicodemus—a well-educated individual with strong beliefs—appears surprised and confused during his conversation with Jesus. The discussion is challenging because Jesus' words do not align with Nicodemus' understanding of truth. In response, Jesus encourages him to let the Holy Spirit dwell within him, so he may be born again.

Often, we are told to surrender ourselves to the Spirit. However, in today's passage, Jesus does not ask for surrender; instead, he invites us to open our minds and hearts to the Spirit. He is not asking us to give up anything, but rather to listen to the Spirit.

Our relationship with God is interactive, meaning we actively participate by speaking and listening. In this relationship with the Spirit, we can come to understand who God is in our lives and souls, and who we are to God.

Let us pray that we truly open ourselves to the Holy Spirit, so that we may come to know God and remain aware of Him as the ever-present and essential reality of our lives.

Homily for Monday of the 2nd Week of Easter

A variety of people encounter Jesus throughout the progression of John’s Gospel. In today’s passage, Nicodemus, a Pharisee—part of a group often hostile to Jesus—stands apart from his peers; he is fascinated by Jesus and chooses to approach Him, even though this decision puts him at odds with those around him. His initial approach is discreet, coming to Jesus under the cover of darkness. Yet, by the end of John’s Gospel, he is much less reticent; alongside Joseph of Arimathea, he ensures that Jesus receives a dignified burial.

 

Nicodemus’ journey toward Jesus throughout the Gospel encourages us to seek growth in our relationships with Him, even when doing so means going against societal norms. Even if our relationship with the Lord sometimes feels tentative, Nicodemus’ experience reminds us that it can evolve into something bolder. Jesus’ words to Nicodemus in today’s Gospel underscore that our progress toward the Lord is not solely our own effort but also the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Jesus teaches that to enter the Kingdom of God, we must be born of the Spirit.

 

Just as a sailboat relies on the wind, we, too, need the Holy Spirit guiding us as we journey toward the Lord. This Spirit is always available to us, and the Easter season is a perfect time to invite the Holy Spirit into our lives in fuller measure.

Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday)

On a cold December morning in Russia in 1849, twenty political prisoners were lined up in front of a firing squad. Just before the order to fire was to be given, an officer rode up shouting for the soldiers to stop. Czar Nicholas had just commuted their sentence to ten years of hard labor in Siberia.

 

One of the prisoners was a young man named Feodor Dostoevsky. When he arrived in Siberia, he found a copy of the New Testament and began reading it. By the time he finished reading it, he had become a strong believer in Jesus Christ.

 

After his release from the Siberian work prison, Dostoevsky turned to writing novels. Very quickly, he wrote such classics as Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov. The success he earned from his writing, however, seemed to turn his head. He began to gamble and drink heavily. Worst of all, he set aside his newfound faith.

 

Shortly before his death, Dostoevsky returned to the faith. This fact was a source of great irritation to his atheistic friends. They ridiculed him and regarded his return to faith as the act of a sick man in desperation. Commenting on their ridicule, Dostoevsky wrote in his diary: “These fools could not even conceive so strong a denial of God as the one to which I gave expression. It is not like a child that I believe in Christ... My hosanna has come forth from the crucible of doubt.”

 

Dostoevsky’s story is not unlike the story of Thomas in our Gospel reading today. Like Thomas, he once placed all his faith in Jesus, only to abandon it. And, like Thomas, he returned to his faith in Jesus. We can all relate to the stories of Thomas and Dostoevsky. Perhaps we didn’t completely abandon our faith in Jesus, but perhaps we didn’t follow Jesus as closely as we should have. Anyone who has traveled the road of faith knows it is not a wide, paved highway. Instead, it is a narrow path, difficult to follow. Jesus Himself said of the road to faith, “How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.”

 

As we look at the road of faith, we see that it involves three things:

 

First, our faith involves trust in God. This means we are not dealing with something purely intellectual, like solving a math problem. It is something deeper, something more personal and profound. It’s trusting God even when the intellect is confused. We recall the story of Abraham when God asked him to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Abraham’s intellect was confused. It didn’t make sense for him to sacrifice his son. Had Abraham relied solely on his reasoning abilities, he would have set aside his trust in God. However, Abraham put all his trust in God, who blessed him with many more years with Isaac and with so many other great blessings.

 

Second, our faith involves a constant struggle on our part. This is something that never ends in our quest to be one with God. Again, if we look at the story of Abraham, we see that his faith did not rely on a one-time commitment to God. He struggled with his faith; he struggled to understand God. When his understanding failed him, he had to put his trust in God once again, blindly. There is no such thing as getting the faith and never struggling with it again. It is a constant struggle, a constant journey, but one that brings us ever closer to God.

 

Third, our faith sometimes involves moments of darkness. By this, we mean there are times when our faith seems to go behind a cloud, when we find it hard to believe. Our faith seems to disappear like the sun on a cloudy day.

 

When these times of testing or darkness come, we might recall the words of a fugitive running from his captors during World War II. He wrote on the wall of a basement in which he was hiding: “I believe in the sun even when it is not shining. I believe in love even when I do not feel it. I believe in God even when God is silent.”

 

Jesus says to us, today, what he said to Thomas, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

Homily for Saturday in the Octave of Easter

After His Resurrection from the Tomb, Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene—once broken, then a chosen witness—showing us that God uses unlikely and imperfect people to spread the Good News.

 

When Mary told the Apostles, who were in mourning, that Jesus was alive, they did not believe her. Nor did they believe the two disciples who met Jesus on the road, demonstrating that even those nearest and dearest to Jesus can sometimes be unbelieving.

Jesus then appeared to them to show them that He had indeed risen from the Tomb. When he rebuked them for their unbelief, He did so not to scold them but to transform them into faithful witnesses who would follow His mandate to “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”

 

Just as the Apostles' disbelief is transformed into a commission to spread the Good News, so our past sins, failures, and doubts do not necessarily keep us from living out this mission; rather, they serve as a springboard for giving witness to God's love and mercy.

Homily for Friday in the Octave of Easter

After a night of fishing, the disciples returned empty-handed and feeling discouraged. Early in the morning, Jesus appeared on the shore and met with them. He invited them to have breakfast with Him, presenting an abundant table filled with fish and bread. In their disappointment, Jesus was there to provide for them, feeding them physically, spiritually, and emotionally. 

Similarly, Jesus meets us at the water's edge to offer comfort and sustenance for our journey. Like the disciples, we must recognize Him in our lives—wherever and in whomever He may appear—and make ourselves present to Him to hear His invitation. 

As a result, when we are nourished by the food of His Word and the sacrament of His Body and Blood, we become His presence to others, nurturing, healing, and loving everyone we encounter.

Homily for Thursday in the Octave of Easter

As we just heard, Jesus’ followers had difficulty believing that the man standing before them was the same Jesus they had come to know and love. They thought they were seeing a ghost. 

They had been so traumatized by the Crucifixion just a few days earlier that they struggled to accept that Jesus was truly alive. It was too much for them to comprehend.

Even today, we may find it challenging to embrace and honestly believe the good news of Easter. It is often easier to relate to the death of Jesus than to His Resurrection; we can easily connect with His suffering.

Perhaps that is why we have seven weeks of Easter: to fully take in this incredible truth and recognize that the Risen Lord is among us, saying what He said to His disciples: “Peace be with you.”

He offers us peace of mind and heart, the fruit of His love poured into us by the Holy Spirit. 

When we open ourselves to receive this gift, He sends us out as ambassadors of reconciliation, love, and peace, just as He sent out His disciples nearly 2,000 years ago. 

May our hearts be open to the reality of His love so that we can go forth and share it fully with others.

Homily for Wednesday in the Octave of Easter

In today's Gospel passage, two of Jesus' disciples are walking away from Jerusalem on the first Easter night, haunted by negative memories of the city. It was there that Jesus, to whom they had dedicated their lives, was crucified. The city took away not only Jesus but also the hopes they had invested in Him. They wanted to leave, but Jesus had wanted them to stay.

What they didn't realize at the time was that Jerusalem was also the place where Jesus would be raised from the dead, where He would pour out His Holy Spirit upon His disciples, and where His message would begin to spread to the entire world.

As they walked, Jesus accompanied the two disciples and helped them understand that there was more to Jerusalem than they had initially considered. Similarly, in our lives, the places we avoid—physical locations or deeper emotional spaces—may seem dark and gloomy. However, these are often the very places where the seeds of new life can grow and where God is mysteriously yet powerfully at work in the darkness.

Homily for Tuesday in the Octave of Easter

Yesterday, we heard St. Matthew's account of Mary Magdalene's experience at the empty tomb on the first Easter morning. While St. Matthew briefly mentioned Mary's fear, he did not elaborate. In contrast, St. John's account provides more details, revealing that Mary was so distraught that she didn't even recognize Jesus when she first saw Him.

Reflecting on the Gospels, we might think that some of Jesus' followers were slow to understand the significance of His teachings and miracles. However, like us, they grew in faith gradually through moments of revelation and discovery.

Even though we are familiar with the story of Jesus' life, death, and Resurrection, we can still struggle to recognize His presence in our lives today. We might wonder if God is truly there in times of difficulty or loneliness.

Yet, our faith teaches us that God is always with us, just as He was with Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb, even when she was initially unaware of His presence.

Let us pray that we remain aware of God's abiding presence in our hearts and lives so that, like Mary Magdalene, we may hear Jesus' voice and be filled with His love and presence.

Homily for Monday in the Octave of Easter

It has been said that the truth has a way of revealing what people are truly made of. Such is the case in our Gospel passage this morning, as we see two groups of people, each with a different reaction upon discovering the empty tomb.

 

Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary" saw that the tomb was empty; they saw the Truth of the Resurrection (Jesus Himself) and, although afraid, went to proclaim it with joy in their hearts.

 

The soldiers saw the empty tomb, reported it to the chief priests and elders, made up a lie with them, and then went on to live their lives in fear that the truth would be exposed—both the Truth of the Resurrection and the truth of their deceit.

 

As long as we have something to lose—whether it's our social standing, our reputation, our security, our investments, or our pride—we will struggle with the Truth. But the Easter greeting of the Risen Christ always assures us that He knows how we feel and what we truly need.

 

The Risen Lord wants to calm our hearts with these four words: "Do not be afraid," so that we, too, can proclaim the Truth. The Truth, who is the Risen Lord, will set us free. So let's not be afraid—Jesus will be with us to conquer all our fears.