Our Faith Makes a Difference, as did Peter's and John's

In today's first reading, Acts 3: 1-10, Peter and John are about to enter the temple for the three o'clock prayer hour. A man crippled from birth asks the apostles for alms. Peter replies:  "I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk."And he does so! People are amazed when they see this man walking and praising the Lord!

You and I are also blessed with a power to heal that which cripples us or cripples another!  The healing may not be as drastic or obvious to the naked eye as in the case of the man healed by Peter and John but no less real!  Where we see it is in the eyes and lives of little children who are touched by our generosity, our attention, our taking time to interact with them and respond to their requests that we play with them or listen to their stories or push them  on a swing or play catch with them o throw them pitches!  We see the power of the Spirit flowing from us to another when we lend a helping hand to an elderly person or bring a meal to a shut-in!  We see the Spirit's power when we cuddle with a loved one, put our arms around a person who is lonely and needs someone to show that he/she cares.

Yes, we are blessed with spiritual wealth beyond our imaginings!  Let us use this wealth in small ways and see rich "returns."

Loving, Hearing, Seeing, Touching: Vehicles of Faith

The Gospel of today’s liturgy, John 20: 11-18, recounts the experience of Mary Magdalene, who after Peter and John had left the tomb, having witnessed to the fact that the tomb was empty, stayed behind and stood outside the tomb weeping. “Where was Jesus?”  “Who had taken his body?”  John, when seeing the empty tomb and the burial cloths rolled up and neatly placed where Jesus’ body had been laid to rest,  believed that Jesus has risen. His love for His Savior had no room to doubt the resurrection of Jesus.   

Mary peers into the empty tomb, John tells us,  and sees “two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the Body of Jesus had been.”  They say to her: “Woman, why are you weeping?”  If "an angel of the Lord" asked me that question, what would be my response? Mary says:  “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” She turns around and sees the risen Lord but does not recognize Him until He calls her name: “Mary!” Immediately she knows Him—“My sheep know my voice,” Jesus tells us in the Gospels. Would I, do I, recognize the voice of Jesus when He, too, calls my name or am I tuned in to too many other voices and simply do not hear Jesus at all! For whose voice am I listening, in fact?

John, peering at an empty tomb,  believed out of love. He needed no proof! Mary first believed and recognized the Risen Lord when she heard His voice. Peter first believed when he saw Jesus later in the upper room, doors locked out of fear of the authorities who had Jesus killed and could easily be looking for His followers. Thomas first believed when he first touched the wounds in Jesus’ feet, hands, and side. 

What prompts my belief or yours?