by Dr. Charles Stanley

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:35-58

Jesus is the only person who has an empty tomb. Everyone else who's died has returned to the dust, but Christ is alive and seated at the Father's right hand. Because He overcame death, His followers are also guaranteed empty tombs someday. When Jesus returns for His church, those who have died in Him will be resurrected into glorious bodies. And believers who are alive at that time will instantaneously be changed.

Knowing this, we naturally wonder, What kind of body will I have? The best way to answer that is to see what Scripture reveals about Christ's body after He rose from the dead. He didn't come invisibly in the form of a ghost but rather had a literal, physical body. He talked, walked, and ate with His disciples. Yet although He was recognizable, He was somehow different, and at times it took His words or actions to jog their recognition.

Here's one thing I can tell you about the resurrection: you will look better than you do today! God is going to give you a strong, glorious, eternal body which is perfectly fitted for your life in heaven. Believe me, you will not be disappointed, because God has far more in store for us on the other side than we can ever imagine. You will be more alive there than you could ever be here.

A more important issue we must face is how to get ready for that day. This life is just a puff of wind compared to our eternity. It's my personal opinion that the way we live here on earth will determine our capacity to enjoy heaven. The time to begin living for God is now.

by Dr. Ray Pritchard

Scripture: Acts 2:24-32

"Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact."
(Acts 2:29-32).

Suppose you were preaching to the men who crucified Jesus, and you wanted to convince them that the man they had crucified had risen from the dead. How would you do it? It's an interesting question because it's not easy to convince anyone that a resurrection has taken place. Several weeks ago we discussed a similar question in my Wednesday night Pastor's Bible class. I asked the groups gathered round the tables to discuss what it would take to convince them that someone they knew had risen from the dead.

One person said, "If he told me something that only he and I knew, then I might believe it."
Another person said, "If we sat down and had a meal together."
Someone else said, "If he appeared to lots of other people who knew him as well as I did, then I would know I wasn't dreaming or having a strange vision."

We concluded that it wouldn't be easy to convince any of us that someone we knew and loved had come back from the dead. And it would be much harder if we had seen them die, and harder yet if the death had been as gruesome as a crucifixion.

No wonder the disciples had a hard time on Easter Sunday morning. It's hard enough to watch someone you love die. It would be almost impossible to believe they had come back from the dead. By definition a resurrection is a rare miracle because a true resurrection means you come back to life never to die again. That hasn't happened in 2,000 years.

• It was hard to believe then.
• It's still hard to believe now.
• The odds are against it.

Did you happen to see the March 28, 2005 issue of Newsweek magazine? The cover story by Jon Meacham is called "How Jesus Become Christ." The article asks this question: "How did a Jewish prophet come to be seen as the Christian savior?" Here is the first paragraph:

The story, it seemed, was over. Convicted of sedition, condemned to death by crucifixion, nailed to a cross on a hill called Golgotha, Jesus of Nazareth had endured all that he could. According to Mark, the earliest Gospel, Jesus, suffering and approaching the end, repeated a verse of the 22nd Psalm, a passage familiar to first-century Jewish ears: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" There was a final, wordless cry. And then silence.

Meacham points out, correctly, that the disciples, dejected and confused, did not expect a resurrection. The women who went to the tomb intended to anoint the corpse. But to their surprise, instead of a dead body, they encountered an angel inside the tomb who said these amazing words,

"Don't be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him"
(Mark 16:6).

Meacham describes the early reaction to the news of the resurrection this way:

And so begins the story of Christianity - with confusion, not with clarity; with mystery, not with certainty. According to Luke's Gospel, the disciples at first treated the women's report of the empty tomb as "an idle tale, and … did not believe them"; the Gospel of John says that Jesus' followers "as yet … did not know … that he must rise from the dead."

And from that uncertain beginning sprang the Christian movement, which today numbers over two billion people - one-third of the world's population. A recent Newsweek poll reveals that 78 percent of Americans believe that Jesus rose from the dead. The article notes that you cannot explain the spread of Christianity apart from the resurrection. If the bones of Jesus could be dug up in some first-century tomb, then as Paul says in I Corinthians 15, our faith is vain and we are of all people most to be pitied.

There are many different ways to argue for the resurrection of Jesus. The Newsweek article mentions two of them:

1) The tomb really was empty on Easter Sunday morning.

This is a simple statement of fact.

• When the women got there, the tomb was empty.
• When Peter and John got there, the tomb was empty.
• When the Romans investigated, the tomb was empty.
• When the Jewish leaders checked it out, the tomb was empty.

This one fact has never been successfully answered by critics of the Christian faith. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, what happened to his body? Neither the Romans nor the Jewish leaders would have taken the body. The Romans didn't care about Jesus one way or the other, and the Jewish leaders wanted to make sure he stayed in the grave. The disciples had no reason to take his body. And since Roman soldiers guarded the tomb under penalty of death if anyone disturbed it, grave robbers couldn't have gotten near it. So what happened to the body? Jesus was in the tomb on Friday night. He was gone by Sunday morning.

2) Jesus appeared to hundreds of people.

He appeared to Mary, to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, to Peter, to James, to all the apostles, and eventually to 500 people at one time. These appearances happened at different places in different circumstances over many days. Jesus invited Thomas to touch him. He ate fish with the apostles on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. When Paul listed the various appearances of Christ in I Corinthians 15:5-8, it was like a legal brief, as if to say, "If you doubt my word, these witnesses are all available. Check it out for yourself."

From the beginning, skeptics have attacked the resurrection. Dr. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, offers this helpful perspective:

Those who would attack the Church and reject its gospel must direct their arrows at the most crucial truth claim of the New Testament and the disciples: That Jesus Christ, having suffered death on a cross, though sinless, having borne the sins of those He came to save, having been buried in a sealed and guarded grave, was raised by the power of God on the third day.

On this Easter Sunday, we need to keep two perspectives in mind:

A) It is the chief cornerstone of our faith and the ultimate miracle.

The resurrection is God's stamp of approval on his Son. That's why Peter says in Acts 2:24, "God raised him from the dead." He says it again in verse 32, "God has raised this Jesus to life." It didn't just happen by chance that Jesus rose from the dead. God raised his own Son on the third day.

B) Jesus defeated death when he rose from the dead.

We have heard a great deal in recent days about how normal and natural death is. We see death celebrated almost as if it is a good thing in and of itself. If death is so good, why do we not want to talk about it? If death is so good, why do we make up euphemisms like "passed on" and "crossed over" and "slipped away"? If death is so good, why do we cover people with makeup when they die? Joe Carter of "The Evangelical Outpost" has some important words about this that we need to hear:

Death isn't natural. Life, given to us by an abundantly generous Creator, is natural. Death is the enemy that separates us from ourselves, from our loved ones, and most importantly, from God. It is such a curse that it required the Son of God himself to remove it so that we might live once again.

I think he is right on the money. We need to do some clear thinking on this topic. We celebrate Easter because Jesus came back from the dead. Death could not hold him. That alone should tell you that death is not "natural" or "normal" or "good" in the truest sense of those words. The euthanasia proponents like to talk about "death with dignity" and death as a beautiful thing. If you've ever seen anyone die, you know there's nothing beautiful about it. I've never believed in the beauty of death, not for a moment, and I don't see how you can square that with Christian theology. Death is the "last enemy" that will be destroyed (I Corinthians 15:26).

We ought not to fall for the secular, pro-death viewpoint that death is somehow noble or good or dignified. If death is so good, why did Jesus come back from it? Why didn't he stay dead? I wholeheartedly agree that there are better and worse ways to die, and I thank God for those doctors and nurses and hospice workers and loving family and friends that give themselves tirelessly for the dying. God bless them all. They are doing God's work. But let us not confuse compassion for the dying with a mushy, misty, touchy-feely view of death.

Death may be a release from pain, and in that sense it can be a blessing, but death is also the result of pain and suffering. The Bible says that death came into the world because of sin (Romans 5:12), and without sin, there would be no death. That's why Revelation 21:4 says that in heaven, "There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Death, suffering and pain all belong to the "old order" that even now is passing away.

Thank God, there will be no graves dug into the hillsides of heaven. Jesus made sure of that on Easter Sunday morning.

Back to the Original Question

And so I return to my original question: Suppose you were preaching to the men who crucified Jesus, and you wanted to convince them that the man they had crucified had risen from the dead. How would you do it? That's the challenge Peter faced on Pentecost, exactly 50 days after Jesus rose from the dead. As he preached in the temple courts, a vast crowd gathered to hear him. Among those present were many who had consented to the death of Christ. If they had not actively participated, they had gone along with the crowd. If they had not cried out, "Crucify him!" they had also not done anything to stop the miscarriage of justice. Whether actively or passively, they had crucified the Lord of glory. But word had spread that his tomb was empty and wild rumors circulated that Jesus had appeared to his disciples. They didn't know what to believe.

Suppose you were Peter on that day. How would you convince them of the resurrection? Peter did something very unique. He told them a simple story and he quoted Psalm 16 to prove his point. He told them a tale of two men. You can read all about in Acts 2:24-32. Here is his story in short form:

Two men died. One was famous. One was not so famous.
Both men were buried not far from here
One man stayed dead. The other man didn't

You can check out the story for yourself
David's tomb is not far from here
He was a patriarch and a prophet
He spoke of the coming resurrection of Jesus
He predicted that God would not allow his body to stay in the grave
He wrote this down in Psalm 16

What David predicted came true 50 days ago
God raised Jesus from the dead
We saw him with our own eyes

I can tell the story even shorter than that:

Two men died
One man stayed dead
The other man didn't
The first man predicted it
The second man fulfilled it

David was the first man
Jesus was the second man
God was the one who made it happen

It was a stroke of genius because the Jews revered three men above all others: Abraham, Moses and David. Abraham was buried in Hebron, a town south of Jerusalem. Nobody knew for sure where Moses was buried. But everyone knew where David was buried. His tomb was well-known in Jerusalem. I imagine Peter even pointed to it and said, "Go out there and check it out for yourself." David had died 1,000 years earlier, and his body was still in the tomb. But Jesus borrowed Joseph's (of Arimathea) tomb for about 36 hours. Then he left it behind forever. That's why they call it a "borrowed" tomb. He didn't plan to stay there very long.

Peter then comes to his stirring conclusion in Acts 2:36, "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

He is the Lord. So worship him.

He is the Christ. So follow him.

In his book World Aflame, Billy Graham tells the story of Auguste Comte, the French philosopher, and Thomas Caryle, the Scottish essayist. Comte said he was going to start a new religion that would supplant the religion of Christ. It was to have no mysteries and was to be as plain as the multiplication table; its name was to be positivism. "Very good, Mr. Comte," Carlyle replied, "very good. All you will need to do will be to speak as never a man spake, and live as never a man lived, and be crucified, and rise again the third day, and get the world to believe that you are still alive. Then your religion will have a chance."

Dr. David Seamands tells of a Muslim who became a Christian in Africa: "Some of his friends asked him, ‘Why did you become a Christian?' He answered, 'Well, It's like this. Suppose you were going down the road and suddenly the road forked in two directions and you didn't know which way to go, and there at the fork in the road were two men, one dead and one alive. Which one would you ask for directions?'" We hear a great deal these days about which religion is the right religion. How do you know which religion has the truth? Here's a simple way to answer that question. Find the religion whose founder rose from the dead. That's the one you need to follow.

I end with the words of Jesus in Revelation 1:18, "I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades." This is the message of Easter. This is the reason for our hope. One day sooner or later, we're all going to die. In that day we'll lose everything we have on this earth, but we'll keep everything that matters most because death cannot separate us from Jesus Christ. No enemy remains that he has not already conquered.

If you forget everything else I've said this morning, remember this: Jesus holds the keys to death and Hades. Let that thought fill your heart with joy. The voice of the risen Christ calls to us this morning,

"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die"
(John 11:25-26).

Rejoice, child of God. You have nothing to fear.

O death, where is your victory?

Christ the Lord is risen today. Rejoice. Fear not. A light shines from the empty tomb. Death is swallowed up in victory.

Do you know him? Easter is a wonderful time to trust Christ as your Lord and Savior. I can't think of a better time or a better place or a better moment to come to Christ. Run to the cross. Run with all your might and lay hold of Jesus who died for you and rose from the dead. Trust him with all your heart, and you will never be disappointed.

Trust in him and whether you live or whether you die, you can know for certain that you are going to heaven. Trust in him and when you die, you won't stay dead forever.

Christ the Lord is risen today. Amen.

by Trevor Grant Thomas

At this time of year Christians celebrate Easter, or as I prefer, Resurrection Sunday. As one scans history, no other date put such a mark in time as when Jesus Christ shed His grave-clothes and departed the tomb.

Of all the religions of the world, only Christianity claims an empty tomb for its founder. The physical resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone of Christianity. British theologian Michael Green said it well when he noted, "Without faith in the resurrection there would be no Christianity at all." Noted biblical scholar, professor, and author Wilbur M. Smith said that, "The resurrection of Christ is the very citadel of the Christian faith. This is the doctrine that turned the world upside down…" Indeed it did.

C.S. Lewis notes that, "In the earliest days of Christianity an 'apostle' was first and foremost a man who claimed to be an eyewitness of the Resurrection," or more accurately, a witness of the resurrected Christ. He adds that, "to preach Christianity meant primarily to preach the Resurrection." And preach they did.

The transformation of the disciples of Jesus is one of the greatest evidences of His resurrection. For decades following Jesus' death and resurrection they preached His "good news." Biblical references and strong extra-biblical sources have almost all of the disciples dying martyrs' deaths. James, the son of Zebedee, according to Scripture was, "put to death by the sword (probably beheaded)." According to early church historians Peter was crucified in Rome, and Paul (of course not one of the original 12, but an apostle nonetheless) was beheaded there. Strong church tradition has Thomas, the "doubting" disciple, being run through with a spear.

The manner of martyrdom of the other disciples is less clear, but strong evidence suggests all, save John, died horrific deaths because of their faith. Their unwavering efforts spread the gospel to many regions of the world, including Rome, Greece, Armenia, Persia, Syria, India, Egypt, Libya, Arabia, and North Africa.

The faith of Jesus' Apostles spread to thousands upon thousands in a relatively short period of time. Many of the early believers suffered intense persecution as well. Fulton Oursler, in The Greatest Faith Ever Known, notes that "Thousands of these men and women would die themselves in the arena, burning on pitch-soaked pyres, crucified, they would die for Jesus Christ, and for the Faith, the Church that Christ founded."

The persecution of the church continued for centuries. After Constantine's conversion in the year 312 the church passed from persecution to privilege. Councils were called, the Scriptures were translated into various languages, and missionaries carried the gospel to ever farther reaches of the world.

The influence that Christianity has had on the world can be measured in practically every facet of life. Everything from the family, to science, government, medicine, art, literature, business, and so on, has felt the impact of the message of the Resurrection of Christ.

The world's first university, birthed in 1088, was The University of Bologna in Italy. It was founded to teach canon law. The second oldest university, The University of Paris, grew out of the cathedral schools of Notre-Dame and soon became a great center for Christian orthodox studies. Dr. Alvin J. Schmidt, in his book Under the Influence: How Christianity Transformed Civilization, points out that every college established in colonial America, except the University of Pennsylvania, was founded by some denomination of Christianity. He adds that, preceding the Civil War, 92 percent of the 182 colleges and universities in the U.S. were established by some branch of the church.

Many of the greatest artists in history: Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Donatello, Da Vinci, and Salvador Dali were Christians. This is evident in that many of the great works they produced were scenes or characters from Scripture. Beethoven, considered by many to be the world's greatest composer, composed some of the most profound Christian masterpieces of history. Johann Sebastian Bach was, as one scholar put it, indeed "a Christian who lived with the Bible."

Americans are the most generous people on the earth. Take note of the number of influential charities inspired by Christianity. Among them are The Salvation Army, Campus Crusade, Catholic Charities, Compassion International, Habitat for Humanity, World Vision, and the YMCA. Through charities such as these, and through the efforts of tens-of-thousands of U.S. churches, and tens-of-millions of U.S. Christians, Americans account for nearly half of all charitable giving worldwide. What's more, the U.S. government gives more than any other nation on earth.

Christians lead the world in caring for the sick and dying among us. As Virginia Health Information notes, "Some of the earliest hospitals existed in ancient Rome in 100 BC as important centers for the emergency care of sick and wounded soldiers. With the spread of Christianity, hospitals grew as part of the church's mission and became part of the community as they tended to health care not only for soldiers but also for all who needed it."

The first hospital in North America, the Hospital de Jesus Nazareno, was founded by Cortés. With the aid of Benjamin Franklin, the first hospital in the U.S, Pennsylvania Hospital, was founded by a Quaker, Dr. Thomas Bond. The Catholic Church alone operates over 1,100 hospitals and long-term health care facilities in the U.S. What's more, a 2010 study revealed that Christian hospitals in the U.S. outperform all others. About 25% of U.S. hospitals are Christian.

The great nation that we inhabit was founded almost exclusively by Christians and upon Christian principles. On July 4, 1837, in a speech delivered in the town of Newburyport Massachusetts, John Quincy Adams, son of John Adams, and the 6th U.S. President, proclaimed,

"Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the World, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day? [Independence Day] Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth?"

Witnessing the events of the Revolution as a boy, and no-doubt hearing from his father of the raucous debates that gave us the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and then going on to serve his country in many various capacities, John Quincy Adams saw that Christmas and Independence Day were fundamentally linked. And of course, the "Redeemer's mission" was not complete until He hung on the cross, died for our sins, and then left His earthly tomb. Adams understood well that the Founders took the principles that Christ brought to the world and incorporated those into civil government. This is what makes the U.S. government so distinctive, why it has been so durable, and why, to this day, we are the greatest nation the world has ever known.

The United States has become the world's wealthiest, most powerful, most influential nation in world history. Standing for freedom and justice and operating out of love, whether through its government or private citizens, the United States of America has come to the aid and rescue of billions of people around the world.

The current year is 2017. This is not 2017 years from Caesar, Buddha, or Mohammed, but from the birth of Jesus Christ. Dan Flynn notes that, "The attempt to replace Anno Domini (AD) and BC (Before Christ) with BCE (Before Common Era) and CE (Common Era) is yet another exercise in futility. Doesn't this Common Era, after all, begin with the life of Christ?"

The impact of Christ's resurrection can be seen in institutions and industries, in calendars and carols, in tribes and in nations. As I said earlier, virtually every facet of our lives has been impacted by the empty tomb left by Jesus. However, I believe that the power of Jesus is most noticeable in the lives of individuals who have surrendered to Him. Though we may acknowledge Him on our currency, and measure our years from His birth, our only real hope is in His resurrection.

by Mel Lawrenz

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"
- John 20:1-2

Resurrection

How difficult was it for the One who is Lord of the universe - who had a hand in creation itself, who is the very force of life that holds living things together - to wake up from the sleep of death and set aside the burial cloths draping his body?

As was always the case, Jesus' revelations of himself did not happen with television cameras focused on him. Not even a respectable crowd was gathered. An alarming word from young Mary Magdalene about Jesus' body being gone produced a panic and a footrace among two of Jesus' beloved disciples, Peter and John. One looked and merely saw the emptiness of the tomb; the other saw the connection between this moment and the mysterious words of Jesus - and he believed.

Now things were really complicated and the disciples went home. So Jesus first appeared to a brokenhearted Mary who stayed at the tomb. Mary was the first to behold something the world had never seen before - a resurrected, transformed life.

Resurrection day for Jesus was simply the first installment of a resurrection of masses of people when this era of the history of the universe draws to a close. What God promises to those who belong to Jesus is not the loss of self into a nothingness bliss, but the resurrection and remaking of everything that is right and good in the world he created. And until then, he invites us to begin living transformed lives, continually shaped and changed by the hope of the redemption of all that God has made.

Ponder This:

Where in your life do you need the resurrection power of Jesus at work today?

by Fr. Rodney Kissinger S.J.

There is an important connection between the Resurrection and the Eucharist. The Eucharist IS the Risen Jesus.

Therefore, the Eucharist makes the Resurrection present and active in our lives and enables us to experience the joy and the power of the Resurrection.

The Resurrection is the reason for the observance of Sunday instead of the Sabbath. According to the Gospel it was early in the morning on the first day of the week that the Risen Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene.

It was also on the evening of that first day of the week that the Risen Jesus appeared to the Apostles when Thomas was not present. Then a week later, on the first day of the week, he appeared again when Thomas was present.

So the Apostles began to celebrate the first day of the week, Sunday, as the beginning of the re-creation of the world just as they had celebrated the Sabbath as the end of the creation of the world. Originally the Liturgical Year was simply fifty-two Sundays, fifty-two celebrations of the Eucharist, fifty-two celebrations of the Resurrection. Today the Eucharist is still the principal way of celebrating the Resurrection and proclaiming the Mystery of Faith: "Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again."

As we have seen the joy and the power of the Resurrection is not found in the empty tomb or in the witness of some one else it is found only in a personal encounter with the Risen Jesus. The Eucharist, the Risen Jesus, gives us an opportunity for this personal encounter. Will all who receive the Eucharist have a personal encounter with the Risen Jesus? Yes they will. Unfortunately, not all will recognize the Risen Jesus. ??Mary Magdalene had a personal encounter with the Risen Jesus but did not recognize him. She thought it was the gardener. It was not until she recognized Jesus that she experienced the joy and the power of the Resurrection. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus had a personal encounter with the Risen Jesus and thought that it was a stranger. It was not until they recognized him in the "breaking of the bread" that they experienced the joy and the power of the Resurrection.

The Eucharist is also a pledge of our own resurrection. "I am the living bread come down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." The Eucharist tells us that in death life is changed not ended. It is not so much life after death but life through death. Death is the door to life. This takes away the fear of death and gives us consolation at the death of a loved one.

The Eucharist also continues the two fold effect of the Resurrection which is to confirm the faith of the Apostles and to create the Christian Community. These are two sides of the same coin. To believe is to belong. Community was an integral part of the life of the first Christians. They were of one mind and one heart. When the Apostles asked the Lord to teach them how to pray, he taught them the "OUR Father." In the Creed we say, "WE believe." It is a personal commitment made in the community of believers.

The Eucharist also confirms the faith of the recipient and is the principle of unity and community. Without the Christian Community we lose our roots and our identity and our ability to survive in our culture which is diametrically opposed to Christ.

Through the Eucharist the Risen Jesus continues his two fold mission of proclaiming the Good News and healing the sick. Every celebration of the Eucharist proclaims the Good News and heals the sick. The Liturgy of the Word proclaims the Good News and the Liturgy of the Eucharist heals the sick. If people were healed simply by touching the hem of His garment how much more healing must come from receiving His Body and Blood?

How ridiculous it is then when people ask, "Do I have an obligation to go to Mass on Sunday?" If obligation is going to determine whether or not you go to Mass forget the obligation. You have a greater problem than that. Your problem is faith, you don’t believe. You don’t believe that the Eucharist IS the Risen Christ.

You just don’t realize the connection between the Resurrection and the Eucharist.? In just a few moments we will receive the Eucharist and once again have an opportunity for a personal encounter with the Risen Jesus.

Let us ask for the faith to recognize him in the "breaking of the bread" so that we are able to say with Thomas, "My Lord and my God," and in so doing experience the joy and the power of the Resurrection.