Gospel: John 20:19-23  Peace be with you

We read today that the disciples are locked away in a house.  Fear has gripped them.  Their friend has been killed, their hopes and dreams have been shattered and now they fear for their own lives.  This scene takes place after Mary Magdalene has already told them that she has seen the risen Jesus, but they don’t believe her.  The disciples remain closed.

There are times in our own lives when we too isolate ourselves, and other times when we have no choice but to do so.  One only has to recall the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020.  At the beginning of that year, no one could imagine the way the pandemic would unfold across the world: the rapid spread of the infection, the staggering death toll, overburdened hospitals, the world in lockdown, businesses closed.  In the first weeks of social distancing many people were in shock, and this shock would soon turn to anxiety and fear.  Many vulnerable people were left alone and afraid.  We experienced a collective grief as the new reality unfolded.

Today’s gospel reminds us that dark situations can be transformed.  During the pandemic, we witnessed many extraordinary acts of kindness and generosity.  Think of the heroes on the frontline who put their lives at risk for those suffering, or the good neighbours and friends who reached out to one another.  These rays of light help us to remember that the Spirit is constantly at work in the world, transforming situations, moving us to act in spaces that seem hopeless.  Any period of isolation can be tough, but it can also be an opportunity to take stock, to think about what kind of world we want to live in, and how we can contribute to the emergence of that world.  One does not emerge from a crisis unchanged.  The Risen Christ breathes the Spirit into our lives continuously, offering us peace – Shalom – and the opportunity for renewal.

© Triona Doherty & Jane Mellet, 2021.  The Deep End: A Journey with the Sunday Gospels in the Year of Luke.  (Dublin: Messenger Publications 2021.

“Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew.  This one is no different.  It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next.  We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of . . . our dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us.  Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world.                                           – Arundhati Roy