"In the evening of that
same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the
disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said
to them, ‘Peace be with you,’ and he showed them his hands and his side. The
disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord."
(Read
John 20:19-23)
We think of times in our lives when, because of some deep hurt, we just wanted to hide and get away from the world and its prying eyes. We refused to communicate with anyone and trusted no one; those times when the doors of our lives were closed for ‘fear of the Jews’, the people that we considered only wanted to find out and gossip about our situation.
Somehow or other, we found ourselves in the company of someone who was not afraid to show us his wounds, as Jesus showed his apostles his hands and his side, and at that moment we felt as if Jesus himself had come through the closed doors in the room where we were and said to us, ‘Peace be with you’.
Lord, we thank you for those Pentecost experiences in our own lives when we realise that we are community, that we need to support each other, to trust and be open to each other. Breathe on us so that we may receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit and be ‘Jesus’ to each other, forgiving and not retaining the wrongs that are done to us. AMEN