April 19th, 2026: Thomas Sunday

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

of the Holy Spirit, glory to Jesus Christ. Glory

to God. Today's the second Sunday after Pascha.

We call it Thomas Sunday. If you look up at the

top of the North Peak, you see the scene that

was described in the Gospel today. Beautiful,

beautiful fresco. And this day has an important

message for us. Wonderful message for us. Again,

once again, the good news, the gospel, that the

resurrected Lord, the Lord is true. He is resurrected.

All power is given unto me in heaven and on earth,

he says. We believe that. All power over everything.

And he is on the throne. next to the Father,

ruling all things, putting all the enemies, the

spiritual enemies, under his feet until such

time that he deems it proper to appear in glory,

and we will be raised. We will be judged. We

will be raised. The resurrected Lord is real,

always, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Eight days after his rising, which is what? we

had on Pascha, what's today, eight days after

Pascha, St. John tells us that St. Thomas was

with the disciples when Jesus appeared and said,

peace be unto you. Those words, peace be unto

you, they're not merely words conveying hope

for a good state of mind. His peace, Christ's

peace, the peace of God, it's the peace that

dispels All fear in our hearts, even though we're

worried and troubled about many things. It's

the peace that dispels all doubts and all anxieties.

Why? It's the peace that strengthens us. Why?

Because his peace is his presence in our midst.

His peace is his presence. And we, says St. John,

have life in his name. Today's gospel is completing

the reading today that completes the reading

we had on Pascha, the encounter with the living

Lord that we began Pascha afternoon. You recall,

perhaps, that that reading ended with the statement,

and perhaps it seems strange to us on Pascha,

it ended with the statement by St. Thomas, unless

I see, I will not believe. That's Pascha Day.

That's what we're left with in the middle of

the afternoon. And that's good. Because like

Thomas, we need to go deeper into our heart.

Because Christ is not going to appear the way

he appeared to Thomas to us. The way we see is

a different faculty than our eyeballs and our

hands. And Jesus says, blessed are those that

see that way. We end in that strange way. Unless

I see you, I will not believe. That's Pascha,

and we come to terms with it. The death has been

abolished. The death is over. Can we believe

it? That statement. Can we live according to

that statement? Here's how St. John Chrysostom,

the writer of this liturgy, says. He says, it's

true. We still die as before. But we do not remain

in death. Because Christ is there. And this is

not to die. And the very power and very harshness

of death is that a dead person has no possibility

of returning to life. But if after death he is

to be bodily quickened and moreover to be given

a better bodily life without death, then this

is no longer death. This is a falling asleep.

Comfortable belief. Just saying, Christ is risen

from the dead, trampling death by death, and

we're very happy. Just saying that, it's fairly

easy. It requires very little of us. Seeing the

Lord as we did on Thursday night, Friday. Treated

so brutally in his crucifixion by the authorities.

Handed over by his own people. The apostles probably

thought they were next. They're hiding in this

upper room when Christ comes to them on that

first day of the week. I can't imagine their

fear, their uncertainty. We thought it was him

that would redeem Israel, they said. And they

were disappointed. No matter what they heard

through the teaching of Jesus Christ, no one

rises from the dead. This is not something they

would expect at all. But since that day and since

Thomas Sunday, all the saints, whether ancient

martyrs, or the new martyrs, or the Turkish martyrs,

or people in Uganda or Nigeria that are being

killed systematically, Christians that are being

killed, they don't believe that they are afraid.

They have gone through the furnace of doubt already.

They have gone and carried that cross which has

transformed them to make them like gold. That's

our goal. Not to be comfortable Christians. No,

our goal is to carry that cross, to encounter

that furnace of doubt in our heart, and to let

the Lord inside our deep heart, where we say

to him, Thou art my Lord and my God. How could

I not see that? We hear the words of St. Thomas

proclaiming with... that phrase with complete

faith, that Jesus is my Lord and my God, not

just the Lord and the God. The scriptures tell

us that the Lord appeared to his mother, to Mary

Magdalene, to the mother of James and John, to

all of the apostles, to 500 people at once. We

trust those witnesses. because of the way they

conducted their life. We trust their words because

we see how they lived, were transformed, were

no longer hiding behind closed doors. St. Luke

records in the book of Acts, which you heard

today, that through the hands of the apostles,

who had been changed after Pentecost, absolutely,

fundamentally, essentially changed. They were

now bearers of the Spirit of God, as we are.

That through them, many signs and wonders were

done among the people, and believers were increasingly

added to the Lord. Yes, believe the witness,

the ancient witness. Believe the new witnesses,

our saints. Believe them, but also seek for yourself,

not as an ideology, but the person of Christ.

Touch him, not physically. But in your deep heart,

the church, Lent, the services, the holy mysteries,

worship, all the hymns, the fasting, the prayer,

the prostrations, this is spiritual heart surgery

acting upon our heart. It can be painful when

we see what's in there. And by the grace of the

Holy Spirit, as we allow him, as we carry our

own cross and our sorrows and our difficulties,

that deep heart is being made a throne. But we

have to offer ourself. It's comfortable not to.

Because doubts come and resistance comes. When

resistance comes, you have to ask, why now? What's

that about? Because that's... That's from the

evil one. God will not bring something to fruition

in us, in our heart, without our having had a

hand in cultivating the grace that is going to

be there. We will get from him joy, contrition,

wisdom, understanding, more joy, more contrition.

A conviction, whatever our heart has prepared

itself to receive and what we are capable of

receiving with faith, that is what we will receive.

We are filled, says one elder, to the degree

that we are empty. That we have made room within

ourselves for that faithfulness, that life of

faith and the love for God. The love for God.

That's primary. This is something that is for

me, acquiring Christ as my own, here in the midst

of the congregation, to no longer be in a prison

of my self -will and my sins and fear of death.

Let me give you a few practical suggestions as

I conclude. If you are struggling with being

faithful, I won't say in belief, I would say

faithfulness. Coming to church. Praying. Loving

God. Forgiving. All of those things. If you are

struggling with being faithful, the first thing,

this is very important. Do not stop praying.

Any way you can. God is so humble, he will receive

that prayer. But do it. And remember, remember

this. Like in any endeavor in our life, and I've

told you this many times. There is no quality

without quantity. You cannot become a good musician

without a lot of practice. You can't become a

good athlete without a lot of practice. You can't

become adept at prayer without delving into it

and waiting around and sometimes drowning in

your own thoughts. But the quality will be there

because it will be a gift of God. Pray. Secondly,

learn about the faith. If you have a Sunday school

education only, your faith will not survive.

But here, the riches we have, the books, the

teaching, the people, let your faith be strengthened.

Talk to other people who love their faith. Try

to emulate them. Learn from them. Understand

why they believe. Follow them as apostles. And

third, most important, experience. Participate.

This helps our faith to grow, to mature within

us. Participate. Come to church. If Thomas had

not come back on the eighth day, But on that

first day, when Jesus had come to the apostles

and said, peace be unto all, and he had to say

it twice, they were so shocked. If Thomas had

not come back the next week, he would have been

left with, unless they see, I will not believe,

and that would be the end. We should not miss

any liturgy on a Sunday. No, we should not. Because

every liturgy is an immense gift from God to

each one of us. Particular, exact what we need.

You and me, the exact gift that God has to give

us, which will give you the peace to say, My

Lord and my God, I thank thee, O Lord, for all

that you have done for me. Let's show up. This

is how we strengthen one another. Let's be open

to these things. Let's not be faithless, but

believing. Christ is risen.