It’s been two weeks since we were at Easter. And if you listened to the Good Friday sermon you know that attacks and persecution of Jews is a problem. Religious persecution also happens against Muslims. And this past week my hairdresser, who is a Buddhist from Vietnam, told me that her brother and several acquaintances have experienced persecution. It is important that we are aware of these forms of religious persecution. But do you know that there is a group that has experienced an increase in persecution more than any other group in the world? Which group is it? They are not Christians. They are the atheists. They have received an increase in evil acts more than any other religious group. 

Jesus Christ was not like that. When Thomas was in doubt, Jesus did not scold or criticize Thomas. Jesus shared God’s love with Thomas. The thing we have to remember is that although Jesus rose from the dead, He was still not with the disciples for long. His appearances after the resurrection were just this: appearances. A moment, an instant, a sight, a sense, a vision, a whisper, and it’s over faster than smoke or steam. So not only did Tomás have doubts, maybe everyone had doubts.

Consider the time notation in the Gospel according to John:

Jesus appeared very early to a few people for seconds not minutes.He passed all day and then he appeared to the disciples in the afternoon and said very few words.The text says eight days later. It means he spent the whole week with nothing.

If you love someone. If you love someone. What if you want to have a deep relationship with someone, is it a good idea to say hello twice briefly on Sunday and then not have any contact for the rest of the week? Is it possible to have a meaningful relationship with that contact pattern?

It makes me think from the book and the movie, “I will love you forever.” In this story we read of the love between a woman who is an artist in Chicago and a man who has a rare condition that makes him travel through time involuntarily. He has no time travel machine. No. He has a rare genetic condition. He leaps into the past and future of his own life. Many times he scares his family members who have rare opportunities to meet him as a teenager or child. These moments are usually brief. It is a form almost of torture to his family because he does not have any control as to travel to the past or the future. For example, the family could be celebrating Christmas and in an instant he disappears and does not return for a few days. Several friends and relatives of the time traveler’s wife tell him that it is better to leave him alone. It’s not worth it, they said. You never know when he’s going to be or not. But the woman is very in love with him and faithfully continues with the faith that he will always return. I imagine it was like that for the disciples after the resurrection. 

I know that for many the past year has been a time of deep doubt. Where is God in all this pandemic and quarantine? Some people hav