When you feel like you missed it
Sermon for the Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday) Acts 2:14a, 22–32 | 1 Peter 1:3–9 | John 20:19–31 The doors are locked. That is where the Gospel begins—not in triumph, confidence, or bold faith, but in fear. The disciples are hiding. The cross has shattered their expectations, and the resurrection has not yet settled into their hearts. They have heard the reports, but they are not yet living in that reality. So they lock the doors. And if we are honest, we know something about locked doors too. We close off our hearts when we are afraid—after disappointment, after grief, after loss—when faith feels fragile and hope uncertain. Christ Enters Our Fear And it is into that very space—into fear and confusion and doubt—that Jesus Christ comes. He does not wait for them to get it together. He does not wait for perfect faith. He does not stand outside and knock. He simply appears among them and says, “Peace be with you.” This is the first gift of the resurrection: peace...