To believe or not to believe? That’s our dilemma. How much do we believe? Do we believe without questioning? Do we believe the good news or the bad? The choice is ours. Do we believe only what we ourselves experience? And what about second-hand stories told by reliable friends? What about stories that begin “someone told me.”? Do we, as best we can, check the sources? Can we open our hearts to accept what we cannot see? Do we trust another’s experience?
This gospel today, and all the stories of the appearances of the resurrected Jesus, show us not only how Jesus convinced his disciples of His resurrection. This same Jesus prepares us to come together to listen to God’s words.
Consider the story once told by the philosopher Soren Kierkegaard about a circus tent that caught fire. The flames spread to the fields surrounding the circus grounds and began to burn toward the village below. The circus master, convinced that the village would be destroyed and the people killed unless they were warned, asked if there was anyone who could go to the village and warn the people. The clown, dressed in full costume, jumped on a bicycle and sped down the hill to the village below. He shouted as he rode up and down the streets: “Run for your lives! Run for your lives! A fire is coming and the village is going to burn!” The curious villagers came out of their houses and shops and stood along the sidewalks. They shouted back to the clown, laughing and applauding his performance. The more desperately the clown shouted, the more the villagers cheered. The village burned to the ground and the loss of life was great because no one took the clown seriously. After all, he was just a clown.
When Jesus comes in our door, do we recognize Him? Maybe he’s not dressed as a clown or shouting and waving. How will we recognize Him? Have we met Him often enough in our everyday lives that we immediately recognize Him? Have we met Him in the people with whom we rub shoulders on a daily basis? Maybe there are times when it is easier to see Jesus in the face of the stranger or the guest than it is to see him in the face of the person across from us at the dinner table or the chapel aisle or walking the hallways. Jesus says: “Look at my hands, my feet, my face. See that it is I, your Lord.” Do we believe?
~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB
