On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you."  When He had said this, He showed them His Hands and His Side.  The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.  Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so I send you."  And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.  Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."

Commentary

Our Lord's appearance through locked doors might seem like forced entry and thus incompatible with Love.  But God knows our hearts, therefore, our Savior not only loves with a boundless love all those who are on the other side of the door, but He also knows that they love Him and it is out of fear that the doors are locked.  In the spiritual life perhaps there are aspects of it in which we have locked the doors of our hearts.  Sacramentally, here are some common things that are said: "I can't go to Confession and tell Father what I have done – what will he think of me?"  Or, "The priest is just a man, what do I need him for?  Can't I just go directly to God?!"  Back in 1947 there was a rather humorous movie titled: "Life with Father".  The film centers on a turn of the century aristocratic family in New York.  The eccentric husband and his wife are the parents of five sons.  It is discovered early on in the film that the father had never been baptized.  From that point on his family keeps gnawing at him to get baptized even though he is dead set against it.  In the end when he finally agrees or actually kind of tricked into it, as the mother gathers up her five children in order for the family to hop on a horse and carriage and head off to church to get their father baptized, the father asks somewhat angrily, "Must the children witness this indignity?"  The sacraments were instituted by our Savior; and as far as entertaining thoughts of: "There must be another way," only Jesus knows.  Even the father in the film in his wishful thinking boldly said: "They can't keep me out of heaven on a technicality!"  All we know by means of Scripture and Tradition is how Jesus architected the dispersing of grace and our Lord's specific design for reconciliation is revealed in this Gospel: "Receive the Holy Spirit.  Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."  When adult baptism is seen as undignified or the many excuses that arise for avoiding Confession, perhaps it is a sign that there are hearts with locked doors.  And it doesn't mean that God is loved less because of our excuses or fears of embarrassment or the fear of emptying ourselves to a priest.  The more attention that one gives to the spiritual life, the more one realizes that we're all in a war zone.  The battle for the human soul is waged all around us nonstop.  The third chapter of the Book of Genesis tells us that the serpent is the craftiest of all; and original sin has already inflicted us with a disease that is adamant about being in control of everything ourselves.  Knowing that, it's quite convenient for the serpent to bombard us with the thought of: "Did God really say…?" (Genesis 3:1).  Jesus touches us through His Holy Spirit and challenges us to meditate on "His Hands and His Side".  This is Almighty God Who stands before us with these Wounds.  From a human perspective, shouldn't our Lord feel undignified or embarrassed?  A deep absorption into these Wounds, however, will undoubtedly disclose that love is the reason for them – and love conquers all.  In this Gospel the apostles get that.  Don't forget they love Him too as we love Him; and what should have been a room full of uncomfortable looking faces staring at this marred Man, instead there was rejoicing.  Since they love Jesus, if the doors of their hearts locked Him out because of the shame of abandoning Him, Jesus, because there is mutual love, is able by His Divine Power to go through those locked doors.  In our own fears of embarrassment, shame, mockery or just the struggle to surrender our will to God, which can make fulfilling the mission of being sent an obstacle, as long as Jesus is loved, He will in His own time appear through those locked doors.  If we're willing to keep fighting the good fight in this life full of distractions and temptations, the day will come when we will close our eyes to this world and finally gaze upon the Face we have been seeking our whole life and He may say: "Peace be with you."  And then what will follow is an undeniable assurance that this Peace will remain with us uninterrupted for all eternity.