My Friends,

  Something brief for this evening, Friday, July 3.  Today's gospel reading was the account of Thomas, the apostle, encountering the risen Jesus.  A week before, when told by his fellow apostles that they had seen the Lord he scoffed at this statement and said he would believe only if he could touch the wound marks in Jesus' body.  So then came the embarrassing moment for him when the risen Jesus comes to him and the rest of the apostles and invites Thomas to experience directly the reality of Jesus now in His risen state.  Specifically he is invited to touch, to know through experience the wounds and the love of the Lord expressed in those wounds, to no longer doubt but believe.  And so it happened for Thomas.  He risked, he encountered, and he came to believe . . . and to know something of the joy of the risen state, the good news that love is stronger than death, overcoming it and ensuring that Love lasts forever.


  I sit here waffling back and forth in how much next to say to you because this evening, before supper, as I sat for my usual 20 minutes with God I got utterly overwhelmed with the power of this good news, tasting in my spirit the sweetness of this Love, in how precious it is and how we each are precious to God, and what an overwhelming reality there is contained in experiencing His Person through these wounds,  It is just so overwhelming, so, so overwhelming.  These wounds (and He) are always there for us to approach, in any 'now' moment.  In faith we can do the same thing that Thomas did and come to know Him like never before.  Without a doubt, this is the one thing that overcomes the sadness of our world and any and all voices of defeat and discouragement.  "Fear not for I have overcome the world," He says.  How very true and reassuring such words.  May He be praised now and forever!

  Good nite.

Bernie Owens