The following reflection is for the feast of St. Thomas the Apostle, celebrated on July 3rd, 2020. The scripture readings can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/070320.cfm
Today we celebrate the
feast of the doubter, St. Thomas. In today’s gospel we hear of Thomas not
believing that Jesus has risen from the dead. By this point Jesus has already
appeared to Mary Magdalene, to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and to
those in the upper room. Jesus has appeared to several people, but yet, Thomas
is having trouble believing it to be true.
The week before he
witnessed the crucifixion and death of Jesus on the hard wood of the cross. How
can it be possible, after such a terrible and cruel death, for Jesus to be
alive? After Good Friday, Thomas went off someplace and wasn’t around Easter
Sunday morning to witness the resurrection of Jesus, or the week that followed.
I’m sure Thomas was someplace grieving over the death of his Lord. Jesus was
someone Thomas followed and put his love and trust in. Thomas at one point was
willing to die with Jesus. So, after the cruel death of Jesus on the cross,
Thomas needed some time away to be alone and to think about what happened to
Jesus, and to try to figure out what to do going forward.
So. when he joined his
friends in the upper room, the talk of Jesus being alive seemed like nonsense
to him. “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put myhand into his side, I will not believe.” (John 20:25) Much to his surprise, there appears out
of nowhere Jesus saying, “Peace be with you.” (John 20:26) Then to Thomas Jesus says, “Putyour finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side,and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” (John 20:27) The response from Thomas was, “My Lordand my God.” (John 20:28) Thomas not only acknowledged that Jesus was alive, but that Jesus
was God.
Then Jesus responds
beautifully, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessedare those who have not seen and have believed.” (John 20:29) Not only is Jesus praising
Thomas for finally believing in Him and His resurrection, but Jesus is blessing
us for believing without seeing him and touching him.
Every time we attend
Mass and the priest holds up the host before we receive communion, let us join
Thomas and say, “My Lord and my God.” Then we can give Jesus all our prayers
and concerns to respond to in a way that can bring us comfort and peace. Then
coming up to receive Holy Communion, we can, like St. Thomas, reach out and
touch Jesus in Holy Communion and know that Jesus is truly present in the bread
we are receiving.
Lord Jesus, with St.
Thomas, I acknowledge you as my Lord and my God. Amen.
Belated happy feast day, Deacon Tom! Yes, St.Thomas the Apostle was also very courageous,since he was willing to die for CHRIST. According to tradition he eventually preached the Gospel to India.
ReplyDeleteIn one of the movies about JESUS Thomas is described as someone who always struggled with doubts & JESUS tells him,"You must really want to believe, [because] you doubt so much." Sometimes doubts are the route to a more authentic,mature faith,because it is a faith that has been examined rather than merely taken for granted. So if we desire to believe, we don't have to feel guilty or ashamed of our doubts.
In our diocese of Brooklyn/Queens today is our first weekend public communal Mass in Church & many of us will be receiving JESUS in the Eucharist for the first time in over 3 months, the longest many of us have been away from public communal Mass & the Eucharist for as long as we can remember. How wonderful it will be to see JESUS in the Eucharist "up close & personal" instead of merely on a TV, computer or cell phone screen & to receive Him & whisper the words of St. Thomas, "MY LORD & MY GOD".