I realized in my awakening this morning that some heaviness made me reluctant to get up. Then I remembered that it was “Thomas Sunday.”  Oh, if it were only possible to sleep through till Monday.  Not that have anything against Thomas, the beloved twin, it is just that in the Gospel for the Second Sunday of Easter there is elephant around which our homilists carefully walk.  I mean, Jesus breathing on his disciples and saying "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

               Tell me, my fellow homilists, how do you walk around that! The resurrection is the foundation of the Church’s office of reconciliation. It is, i admit an uncomfortable office, but one that is nevertheless ours.  You will have read or at least listened to the collect which declared that God, in the Paschal mystery has established the new covenant of reconciliation. The lesson from Acts: God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.  

               How is this so? With resurrection, the consequences of human sins are undone.  And how great these consequences are which we habitually pass on for some other time or place. An ocean is too small a metaphor to capture their immensity. But in the resurrection the unwanted brother stands before you. Just as in this Gospel, it is recorded that the betrayed stood before the betrayer. It is for that reason that they of all persons could walk out of that room and dare say your sins are forgiven.