In today’s Gospel, the Disciples had a chance to see Jesus again after He was crucified, died and rose! “Doubting” Thomas needed to see Jesus’ wounds before he believed it was really Him. Then Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit onto the disciples and sent them out to change the world!
When I first started ministering to youth, I was only a teenager myself. That was 40 years ago. I certainly didn’t know all of the answers; I still don’t. I was far from perfect; I’m still not! I couldn’t necessarily solve other people’s problems but I learned to be helpful. What I could do was mirror Christ’s love and witness my faith to others. My childhood and my teenage struggles defined me because my weaknesses made me strong.
I grew up in Queens, New York, in a poor family of seven, with an alcoholic father who slept on the couch in front of our only television and hated his job. I had a young stay-at-home Mom who ruled with a wooden paddle as she tried to hold our family together. We wore hand-me-down clothes, received assembly line haircuts in our kitchen, shared the same dirty water baths as our siblings, slept in a bedroom with 5 kids, played outside without sunscreen or bug spray or expensive toys, squished into a station wagon without seatbelts or air bags, were good students or else, attended mass regularly (all of us continue to be active Catholics!) and yes, even walked to school in blizzards!
I’ve always appreciated the little things in life! I love winter’s snow and spring’s flowers! I love opening my shades each morning to “let the merry sunshine in!” I prefer to live in light rather than darkness… focus on the positive rather than the negative… smile instead of frown… try rather than give up… work hard instead of hardly working… What I really love is knowing that Jesus chose me, with all of my brokenness and weaknesses, to be His disciple. He breathed the Holy Spirit into me and sent me forth to change the world! How could I possibly minister to teens if I never struggled through life? I took ownership of my faith as a teen. My faith made me fearlessly courageous to persist in the face of fear and in the presence of doubters.
I am a witness of Jesus’ resurrection because I, too, have died and rose in my own life; I’ve lived the Paschal Mystery of Christ. All of my darkness prepared me for bringing His Light into the world. My own 3 children were raised in Christ’s love and carry His Light. How joyful! I was blessed to hear my calling to reach out to others as a disciple at a young age, even to the “Doubting” Thomas. How will you continue to live out your Easter experience? May you be courageous!