The Absence in the Presence during Liturgical Distancing 2020
Caravaggio's "The Incredulity of Saint Thomas" In John 20, the story of Thomas, we do not have an explicit statement that he put his finger in the nail holes or in the lacerated side of Christ. Was the invitation enough? The invitation is to enter the mystery: “Put your finger here…only believe.” (20:27) The “hole” in Christ’s side is the mystery. The risen Christ calls Thomas and all of us to enter the mystery. In that we and Thomas are not different in time and space. In Compassionate Christ, Compassionate People* , Bob Hurd muses on the silence of the congregation after reception and before the post-communion prayer. “It signifies the beyond words character of union, corresponding to comtemplatio in the fourth stage of lection divina.” (p.230) Hurd goes on to call this “companionable silence” entry into the Mystery. The silence after reception of the Eucharist is (if it is observed in practice**) the moment of stillness in the experience of the Mys