Ephesians 2:19-22 / John 20:24-29
You are no longer strangers: You are being built into God’s temple.
That’s what Christianity is all about. How are we furthering
Christianity’s goal? “Our business is not to do something for the
church, but to do something with it.” Joseph Fort Newton (ML)
*****
Empiricism is a theory of knowledge which states that
knowledge comes only or primarily from sensory experience; empiricism
emphasizes the role of experience and evidence, especially sensory experience,
in the formation of ideas.
Hence for some people, the only way of convincing them is to
let them have an experience rather than through arguments or discussion or
deduction.
St. Thomas may not be a hard-core empiricist, but he was not
one who would easily believe what others tell him, especially when the disciples
told him that they had seen the Risen Christ.
He needed an experience of the Risen Christ and he even
stated his demands - he not only wanted to see the holes that the nails made in
the hands and side of the Risen Christ, he even wanted to put his finger and
hands into the holes.
So, for St. Thomas, seeing is not enough. He even wanted to
touch! And if he had asked the disciples whether they had touched the Risen
Christ, they would have been stumped for an answer.
St. Thomas saw how Jesus was crucified, died and was buried.
So, nothing short of touching the Risen Christ would convince him that He is
risen from the dead.
The gospel account did not say whether St. Thomas actually
put his finger and hand into the wounds of the Risen Christ. He only made the
proclamation - My Lord and my God.
But from what Jesus said to him, it seems that St. Thomas
believed when he saw Him; touching Him was not necessary already.
So, for those who do not believe in Jesus or want to believe
in Him, we have a mission to them. From what they see of us and in us, they
will come to a decision about Jesus. May St. Thomas pray for us that we will be
an experience of the Risen Christ for them.
****
Biography: St. Thomas the Apostle
Little is recorded of St. Thomas the Apostle. Thomas was
probably born in Galilee to a humble family, but there is no indication that he
was a fisherman. He was a Jew, but there is no account of how he became an
apostle to Christ. Nevertheless, thanks to the fourth Gospel his personality is
clearer to us than some of the other Twelve. Thomas’ name occurs in Matthew
(10:3), Mark (3:18), Luke (6) and Acts of the Apostles (1:13), but in the
Gospel of John he plays a particularly distinctive part. Thomas is often
condemned for his lack of belief, but Thomas was equally courageous, willing to
stand by Jesus in dangerous times. He also relentlessly sought the Truth. Like
an inquisitive child, he constantly asked questions. And, his wonderful
profession, “My Lord and my God,” is the clearest declaration of Jesus’
divinity in Holy Scripture.
Thomas, Loyal Follower: When Jesus announced His
intention of visiting the recently deceased Lazarus in Judea—a few miles from
Jerusalem and dangerously close for someone as unpopular as He—Thomas said to
his fellow disciples: “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (John 11:16).
When the worried disciples wanted to keep Jesus from going for fear He would be
stoned, Thomas, in a moment of bravery not often expressed by the Apostles
before Pentecost, rallied the others to stay by their Master come what may.
Thomas, Inquisitive Student: Later, in John 14:1-5 it
was St. Thomas who raised an objection prior to the Last Supper:
“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God,
believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were
not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that
where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way where I am going.”
Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You
are going, how do we know the way?”
With the keenness typical of the Twelve, Thomas
misunderstands Jesus’ reference to His death and resurrection. Thomas’ question
provides Jesus an opportunity to teach one of the most profound and difficult
truths of His ministry. Jesus said to Thomas: (John 14:6) “I am the
way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
Thomas, Doubting Apostle: Lastly, and more famously,
St. Thomas is remembered for being absent from the Upper Room the first time
Jesus appeared to the disciples after His Resurrection. Thomas dismissed the
accounts of the others by saying, “Unless I see the mark of the nails
in His hands and put my finger into the nail marks, and put my hand into His
side, I will not believe”(Luke 20:25). Eight days later Thomas made his act
of faith. He fell at the feet of Jesus and said, “My Lord and my God!” and
Jesus replied, “Because you have seen me, Thomas, you believed. Blessed
are they that have not seen, and yet believe” (John 20:25-29). This
incident gave rise to the expression “doubting Thomas.”
Thomas, Reluctant Missionary: Accounts of Thomas’
missionary activities are unreliable, but the most widely accepted report holds
that he preached in India, although he was reluctant to start the mission.
According to the Acta Thomae, the apostles divided up the world for
their missionary labors, and India fell to Thomas. However, Thomas claimed that
he was not healthy enough and that a Hebrew could not teach Indians; even a
vision of Christ could not change his mind. Christ then appeared to a merchant
and sold Thomas to him as a slave for his master, a king who ruled over part of
India. One story suggests that Thomas offered to build a palace for the Indian
king that would last forever. The king gave him money, which Thomas gave to the
poor. Asked to show his progress, St. Thomas explained that the palace he was
building was in heaven, not on earth. Ultimately, after giving into God’s will,
Thomas was freed from slavery. He planted seeds for the new Church, forming
many parishes and building many churches along the way.
To this day, Saint Thomas is venerated as the Apostle of
India. In fact, there exists a population of Christians along the Malabar
Coast, on the western coast of India, who lay claim to conversion by St.
Thomas. Their tradition holds that he built seven churches, was martyred during
prayer by a spearing on the “Big Hill” near Madras, and was buried in Mylapore,
on the east coast of India. Ultimately, St. Thomas’ remains were transported to
Ortona, Italy, where they reside today. Christine Berta
*****
Years ago, there was a delightful TV show. Although it was
aimed mainly at children, a lot of adults enjoyed it too. The show featured a
cartoonist who would invite a child to take a pen and make a couple of
meaningless scribbles on a clean sheet of paper. Then, against a background of
spirited music, the cartoonist would transform the scribbles into a beautiful
drawing. One scribble became a girl’s ponytail; another became the branch of a
tree.In a sense, that’s what God did with the human race. After we messed up
ourselves, he took us and fashioned us into something beautiful: the temple of
his living presence.
****
Do we believe God can take our messed-up lives and make
something beautiful of them? “I will give you a new heart and a new mind. I
will take away your stubborn heart.” Ezekiel 36:26
****
St. Thomas was one the Twelve Apostles called by Jesus, although the gospels
did not give details of how he was called. At the Last Supper, Jesus told
His Apostles that He was going to prepare a place for them to which they
also might come because they knew both the place and the way. But when St.
Thomas said that they did not know the way, Jesus had to plainly and clearly
say that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Yet St. Thomas was best
known for questioning the resurrection of Jesus when the rest of the Apostles
testified to it. He even demanded to touch the wounds of Jesus before he would
be convinced.
And because of that he was often called "Doubting Thomas". Yet when
the Risen Christ appeared before him, it was St. Thomas who proclaimed the
truth of the Resurrection when he addressed Jesus as "My Lord and my
God". St. Thomas was chosen as the instrument to make the first
proclamation of the truth of the Resurrection and the Lordship of the Risen
Christ. He may have been sceptical and cynical and labelled as
"Doubting Thomas", but we also must acknowledge that he was the first
among the apostles to proclaim Jesus as Lord and God.From St. Thomas we can see
that out of a great doubt comes a deep faith. So, if we come across people who
are sceptical or cynical about who Jesus is, let us also know that these very
same people can be great witnesses of Jesus. And even from our own doubts and
darkness, we will also proclaim Jesus as Lord and God when we see the
light.
The context: Today we celebrate the feast of St.
Thomas, the Apostle. Today’s Gospel passage (John 20:24-29), presents the
fearless apostle St. Thomas, in his uncompromising honesty, demanding a
personal vision of, and physical contact with, the risen Jesus as a condition
for his belief. Thomas had not been with the disciples when Jesus
made his first appearance to them. As a result, he refused to believe. When he
appeared to Thomas later, Jesus said: “Blessed are those who have not
seen but have believed.” Thomas was able to overcome his
doubts by seeing the risen Jesus.
The unique profession of Faith: Thomas, the “doubting
apostle,” made the great profession of Faith, “My Lord and My God.” This
declaration by the “doubting apostle” in today’s Gospel is very significant for
two reasons. 1) It is the foundation of our Christian Faith. Our Faith is
based on the Divinity of Jesus as demonstrated by his miracles, especially by
the supreme miracle of his Resurrection from the dead. Thomas’ profession
of Faith is the strongest evidence we have for the Resurrection of Jesus.
2) Thomas’ Faith culminated in his self-surrender to Jesus, his heroic
missionary expedition to India in A.D. 52, his fearless preaching, and the
powerful testimony given by his martyrdom in A.D. 72.
Life messages: 1) Faith culminating in
self-surrender to God leads us to the service of our fellow-human beings.
Living Faith enables us to see the risen Lord in everyone and gives us
the willingness to render each one loving service. (“Faith
without good works is dead” James 2:17). Mother Teresa presents it this
way: “If we pray, we will believe; if we believe, we will love; if we love, we
will serve. Only then we put our love of God into action.” It was
his Faith in the Lord and obedience to Jesus’ missionary command that prompted
St. Thomas to travel to India to preach the Gospel among the Hindus, to
establish seven Christian communities (known later as “St. Thomas Christians”),
and eventually to endure martyrdom.
2) We need to grow in the living and dynamic Faith of St. Thomas using the
following means prescribed by the Spiritual Fathers: a) We come to know
and experience Jesus personally and intimately by the daily and meditative
reading of the Bible. b) We strengthen our Faith by the power of the Holy
Spirit through personal and community prayer. c) We share in the Divine
Life of Jesus by frequenting the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. d) We are
reconciled with God on a daily basis by repenting of our sins and asking God’s
forgiveness and by receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation whenever we fall
into a grave sin. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
