Working at Seattle University, I would pray with the Blessed Sacrament in the Chapel of Saint Ignatius. My eyes often would glance upward toward a window with the IHS-shattered sunrays etched into the glass. As the architect of the chapel said: the window is meant to remind us that our world is broken and yet Christ is found present there, the Real Presence rising in our lives in our midst.

Having missed Jesus’ first appearance with the disciples a week earlier, Jesus invites Thomas to put his finger into the wounds.  At that moment, Thomas believes Jesus is the Christ. Jesus – risen from the dead – still carries the wounds of the world in his body and yet now is glorified. Can we believe that, despite the places where brokenness and chaos is still evident in our lives, the resurrected Christ comes and transforms these wounds, unlocking possibility and new life?

—Fr. Michael Bayard, S.J. serves as Provincial Assistant for parishes and spiritual ministries of the Oregon and California Jesuit provinces.