After Eight Days
Praise be to Jesus Christ
A certain man kept a little plant on his windowsill. Every morning he poured water into the pot, but the plant showed no sign of growth. A week passed, still no change. He was about to throw it away when an old gardener walking by said, “Wait a little longer, sometimes it takes long time to get a new life”
There’s a strange detail in today’s Gospel, where we read that Jesus appeared to the disciples “after eight days.” Why not seven? Seven is the usual biblical number; the week of creation, the Sabbath rest. But here, it’s eight. That’s not just a calendar detail. It’s a quiet clue, something new is being born.
The Church Fathers used to say the eighth day is the day of new creation. On the first seven days, God made the world. But on the eighth, through the resurrection, God began something even greater — He began the rebirth of hearts. Jesus rose not just to show power, but to bring us into a life we had not known before — life beyond fear, beyond doubt, beyond death.
And Thomas, poor, honest, wounded, had to wait through those eight days. Imagine how long those days must have felt. His friends had seen the Risen Lord. They were joyful. But he was still carrying a broken heart. No vision. no experience, but only silence. It might be like many of us who sit in our prayer rooms and feel nothing.
But what if the eighth day hadn’t come? What if he gave up on day six? Or walked away on day seven? Then he would never have heard Jesus say, “Put your finger here…” Sometimes, we too walk away too early. We stop praying just before the answer comes. We stop going to church just before Jesus is about to step in. We stop forgiving just when peace is about to be born. The eighth day teaches us to wait.
It reminds me of Noah. After the rain stopped, the ark rested. But Noah didn’t open the window on day one. He waited… he sent the dove out… and only after a long time, did he finally step onto new land. That’s how faith works, But in waiting, sometimes for eight long days.
Saint John of the cross lived many years in what he called “the dark night,” where God seemed far away. And yet he kept going, loving the lowliness, poverty, and persecution. Why? Because he believed the eighth day would come.
In our families too, maybe we are in day four, or day six. We’ve prayed, we’ve waited, and nothing has changed. A sickness lingers, a loved one is still far from God, a burden does not lift. Let us not walk away, but hold on. The eighth day is coming. And when Jesus appears, He speaks to the very wound you’ve been carrying.
He does not say, “Why didn’t you believe?” He says, “Peace.” And that peace is born not in the first hour, but after a time of silence, of waiting, of trusting.
So remember this: God’s timing is not always seven days. sometimes, resurrection comes after eight.
Lord, teach me to wait with hope.
Very good , inspiring reflection