Pentecost is a feast reminding us that kinship is found in entering into the gap, the space between us and the other. It is there that the Holy Spirit abides.
St. Stephen was one of the first called forth from the early Christian community to the servant ministry of deacon. Not only did he address the symptoms of the poor, oppressed, and those in need, but also the causes which led to his martyrdom.
Thomas is led to a deeper faith in the person of the risen Christ. Our doubts can lead us to that same depth of faith.
The Resurrection of Jesus the Christ shows us that this extraordinary new life is right there in the ordinary pattern of creation that we so often fail to see. The risen Christ will continue to seek after us and call us, and all creation, to this life.