The natural thing to do when we feel anxious or threatened is to hunker down and lock the doors, to become focused on our own security rather than the risky mission to which we are called. The promise of this text is that Jesus cannot be stopped by our locked doors. Jesus comes to us as he came to the first disciples, right during our fear, pain, doubt and confusion. He comes speaking peace, breathing into our anxious lives the breath of the Holy Spirit. What is more, He keeps showing up. As he came back a week later for Thomas, Jesus keeps coming back week after week among His gathered disciples – in the word, the water, the bread and the wine – not wanting any to miss out on the life and peace He gives. And He keeps sending us out of our safe, locked rooms into a world that, like us, so desperately needs His gifts of life and peace. Elizabeth Johnson