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b'(Acts 2:42-47;\\xa0\\xa0 Ps.118:1-4,13-15,22-24;\\xa0\\xa0 1Pt.1:3-9;\\xa0\\xa0 Jn.20:19-31) \\xa0 \\u201cBlessed are those who have not seen and have believed.\\u201d \\xa0 Jesus comes to the disciples, repeatedly appearing to them after His Resurrection, to make certain there is absolutely no doubt in them: \\u201cDo not be unbelieving, but believe.\\u201d\\xa0 He invites them even to put their fingers in His hands and their hands into His side.\\xa0 To Thomas He speaks, yes, but them all He teaches.\\xa0 For He is commissioning them to go forth in His name in word and sacrament to bring forth life to souls who are dying, to preach the salvation from sin by His resurrection from the dead.\\xa0 \\u201cPeace be with you,\\u201d He says to His Twelve.\\xa0 \\u201cAs the Father has sent me, so I send you.\\u201d\\xa0 And so He breathes on them the Holy Spirit, giving them power even to forgive men\\u2019s sins.\\xa0 Now, those to whom they shall proclaim that God \\u201cin His great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead\\u201d will not have had the benefit of seeing the Lord.\\xa0 And so, how can one expect them to believe just by the word of another if the speaker of that word is not completely convinced of its truth?\\xa0 Their witness, their commitment, must extend even to the grave \\u2013 as it shall \\u2013 if it is to go beyond the grave. And the strength of the apostles\\u2019 witness and the fruit it has borne \\u2013 which, in turn, becomes a faithful witness unto others \\u2013 is greatly evident in our reading from Acts.\\xa0 Here we are told the first disciples \\u201cdevoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.\\u201d\\xa0 Sharing all in common, their lives were centered on daily prayer and the Eucharistic meal, the feast of thanksgiving.\\xa0 And \\u201cwith exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying favor with all the people,\\u201d they lived their lives in truth, they lived their lives in faith.\\xa0 What Peter ascribes to the disciples of Christ we find in these: \\u201cAlthough you have not seen Him you love Him; even though you do not see Him now\\u2026 you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, as you attain the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.\\u201d\\xa0 How effective his and the other apostles\\u2019 witness has been. Brothers and sisters, \\u201cHis mercy endures forever.\\u201d\\xa0 The apostles\\u2019 words reach down to us this day and the sacraments of their hands are still in our midst.\\xa0 And so \\u201cthe joyful shout of victory in the tents of the just\\u201d we too should know.\\xa0 We too should sing, \\u201cMy strength and my courage is the Lord, and He has been my savior.\\u201d\\xa0 Though the Church has been made to suffer persecution and been dispersed to the ends of the earth, this is but to bring the Word forth, and through all suffering to make it perfect within us.\\xa0 For ultimately the kingdom is not in this place; heaven we cannot completely see.\\xa0 Only faith will lead us to the Lord\\u2019s risen presence. Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: "What Do You Think?/Open, No Horizon" (first part) from\\xa0All One, sixth album of\\xa0Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, let us make our home in the nail marks of your hands and the wound in your side that we might rise to new life.\\xa0 YHWH, how great is your mercy toward us!\\xa0 How great the wonders that come upon us through your Son, our Lord.\\xa0 For He reveals your ineffable presence to us, taking from us all hardness of heart come from doubt and sin that our eyes might be opened to your glory, that we might enter into your joy. He has been rejected that we might be accepted.\\xa0 His hands and feet and side have been pierced and He has died that we might rise with Him from the grave.\\xa0 All our sin He would take from us, and so He leaves this power with His apostles and with the descendents of His apostles, who, though they have not seen Him yet have His Spirit breathing upon them to accomplish His merciful will in our midst, to reveal your merciful love to us, O LORD and God. O let us fall at His feet!\\xa0 Let us proclaim His divinity.\\xa0 Let us join as one in prayer and in the breaking of the Bread in His Name.\\xa0 O LORD, let us be your blessed disciples and so know your salvation of our souls.\\xa0 Alleluia!'