Reflection for Monday, July 3, 2017: 13th Week in Ordinary Time.

Abstract

I have grown in my appreciation and admiration for the apostles. What I appreciate and admire is their humanity and their faith in Jesus. Sometimes that humanity and faith collide as it does with Thomas in the Gospel. As it does with me. Often. Thomas and the other apostles knew the man, Jesus. They saw his work, heard his words. They followed him. It was difficult, sometimes dangerous, but they had faith in him and faith in God as man.|That's the thing about faith. We have to make that leap, one that might go against common sense and our instincts. It seems Thomas hit a point where he couldn't make that leap based on what the other apostles told him. When Thomas does see the risen Jesus – and think how astounding that is, even if you have been told over and over that is what will happen – Jesus acknowledges the humanity of the doubt: "Blessed are those who have not seen and believed."|The leap of faith isn't one big jump. We take that leap every day, every time we pray, every time we join in a community of worship. When we pray in thanksgiving or gratitude, whether we are desperate or lonely, we are making that leap. We believe in the risen Christ and what that means for each of us. We believe in the fidelity and the kindness of God. In an often broken world, taking that leap of faith can be harder. In my own life, my own choices can be at odds with my faith. God lets me leap again and again.|I am encouraged by the words of Ephesians in the first reading for today where we are told that we are all part of a community with Jesus as the capstone, a community structure that "is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord." And we are also told that "in him, you are also being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit."|When my faith falters, when I am hesitant to take the leap, I can pray that I make the leap, that I become a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.