“But later, as the Eleven were at table, he appeared to them and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who saw him after he had been raised. He said to them, ‘Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.’ ”
It’s difficult to hear Jesus rebuking the disciples for not believing the others after his resurrection. The flip side of this is that he asks the disciples to go out into the world to proclaim the Gospel to every creature. (Saint Francis took these words of Jesus literally, preaching to the birds.)
Three times this Gospel passage refers to the unbelief of the disciples (“they did not believe”; “they did not believe them either”; “they had not believed those who saw him after he had been raised.”). God, help me understand the unbelief endemic among the disciples, the witnesses of the Messiah, the first Christians. Yet, Jesus is patient with these disciples, slack in faith, to the point where he charges them to proclaim the Gospel to the entire world. Humbling to consider!
Many distractions today, many twists on how I thought the day would go. On any given day, I hope to accomplish dozens of things. Today is no different, yet there is consolation today in letting God take the helm, peace in knowing that my unbelief doesn’t stop God from asking me to share humbly in his mission.
Today let me put aside as best I can the unbelief that prevents me from seeing Jesus even as I see his face in others and in the humble appearance of bread and wine. As Peter says in the first reading, after Jesus appeared to the Eleven and his unbelief he put behind him: “It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.”