Sacred Questions At ChristmasSample

PUT YOUR HAND INTO THE WOUND IN MY SIDE

Begin by taking a few breaths and paying attention to the air moving in and out of your lungs and mouth. Notice where you feel tension or discomfort in your body. To the extent you are able, try to relax, let the chair you are sitting in fully support your body, and release the tension as you breathe deeply. 

A Prayer to Open

Here I am, Lord,

in my tired, aging, hurting, wondrous body.

Open my heart to you now.

You are my High Priest who knows.

Read Scripture Passage

Reflect

When Jesus rose from the dead, he rose in his body, glorious and new though it was. He could touch, eat, speak, and see, and he carried the wounds of the crucifixion still. He was no ghost or spirit. He remained and remains embodied.

• Why do you think Jesus wanted Thomas to touch his wounds? Why does it matter that when Jesus rose, he remained—and remains—embodied?
• In what ways have you unintentionally disembodied Jesus—thought of him as only a spirit—in your faith journey? How has that affected you?
• Reflect on the reality that Jesus rose from the dead and still has his body. What does this truth reveal to you about God’s love? What does it reveal about Jesus’ ability to identify with you?

Respond

Jesus Christ—

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace;

the one through whom and for whom all things were made; and

the one in whom I live and move and have my being—

became flesh and made your dwelling among us. 

And nothing—neither death nor life, angels nor demons, the present nor the future; not any powers, height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation—can separate me from the love of our God, which is in you, Jesus Christ my Lord.