Back in February, just as our Lenten journey was beginning, I heard an interview with Australia's newest Winter Olympics gold medalist. When asked how it felt to win, she said that it had not yet begun to sink in. In other words, the initial euphoria of her victory had not yet given way to what it would mean to her in terms of opportunities and future support for her career.
This Sunday we celebrate the Octave of Easter - a period of eight days after the major feast of our faith - an opportunity to extend both our observance and our reflection, to allow what it is that we are celebrating to really sink in.
In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles, our record of the early Church's faith response to the ultimate revelation of God's love for us, we are told that "the whole community remained faithful" to the teaching of the apostles and the beginnings of what we would recognise as the sacramental life of the Church.
In the Gospel, however, we hear the story of the apostle who became known as 'doubting Thomas', which would seem to be a contradiction. But is it really?
On Easter Sunday morning we were told that, having heard the testimony of Mary Magdalene, Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb and, after seeing, they believed.
Then in this Sunday's reading we are told that on the evening of that same day, the rest of the disciples witnessed the risen Lord and, as a result, they believed.
Importantly, Thomas had not had the same experience that they did. And subsequently, he does not have the same response that they did. Yet when he does, he too comes to believe.
Two ideas then present themselves to me. The first is that, if an encounter with Christ leads to faith in Him, then where and when do we have this encounter? The second is that doubt is not fatal.
In terms of encounter, I had the good fortune to grow up in a family that not only believed and practiced their faith, but modelled it in action. From being active in the liturgy, to cleaning the Church and driving the bus to bring people to Mass. I have never met the risen Christ, but I know that I've seen his hands and feet.
In terms of doubt, I am greatly encouraged that, even though he did not at first share the exuberance of his brothers, Thomas was still accepted by them, included by them, and loved by them. At the end of the octave, he is still there. And in this I see the model of the Church that Pope Francis encouraged us to be - a community of faith in which unity is more important than uniformity. Each of us responding from our own life, our own hurts, our own doubts, our own joys, and our own faith.
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