Peace in the storm

After Jesus died, the Apostles hid in a locked room to get away from those who killed Him. Suddenly, Jesus was in the room with them! "Peace be with you," He said, showing them the cuts in His hands and side to prove it was really Him. "Receive the Holy Spirit," He added, and gave them the power to forgive sins.

Thunderstorms can be scary for kids and even adults! The rain isn't so bad, but the sudden BOOM! of thunder and the CRACK! of lightning when you don't expect it can freak you out.

The Apostles would know how you feel. In this week's Gospel (John 20:19-23), they're going through a stormy time: Jesus has just been crucified, and they're terrified the same thing will happen to them. Like a kid in a thunderstorm, they run to a room together and lock themselves in, hoping no one finds them till it's over.

When you're scared of a storm, all you want is to be comforted and for it to end quickly. You hope the people around you who aren't so scared will reassure you and remind you to count, "One, one thousand; two, one thousand," between the lightning and thunder, so when the time grows longer you'll know the storm is going away.

What you really want is peace during the storm -- and that's what Jesus gives the Apostles. When He suddenly appears to them, the first thing He says is, "Peace be with you." He wants them to know that He came back to life as He said He would and that everything's going to be okay, so they'll feel better.

Once you've calmed down after a storm, you go back to what you were doing before -- homework, playing or sleeping. When Jesus gave the Apostles the message that their "storm" was over, He told them to go back to teaching people about God -- and added something new: the power to forgive people's sins.

Jesus knew that God was more powerful than any storm!