No longer doubting...
Reflections on the readings for the Feast of St. Thomas (July 3, 2019): EPH 2:19-22; PS 117:1-2; JN 20:24-29
MISSIO offers “Mission In Scripture” to nurture a missionary heart, providing reflections on the missionary themes in the readings of Sundays, Feast Days and Holy Days
After two thousand years, people still refer to Doubting Thomas. And he was, for a while.
After Jesus’ arrest, he ran away like the other Apostles. And, like the others, he must have spent three miserable, frightening days. But the others were together when the Risen Christ came to them on the evening of Easter and Thomas was absent. So while they were able to rejoice that our Lord had done exactly what He said He would, Thomas refused to believe them. Perhaps he was skeptical by nature; perhaps he felt guilty and unable to accept the truth. Then He, too, saw Jesus who forgave his failure. Like Peter who denied Jesus, the mercy of our Savior gave Thomas the opportunity to live, love and serve Him and His people.
The ministry of Thomas took him to India where he brought many to Christ, particularly on the Malabar coast. Tradition says that he was speared to death during his missionary efforts. His loyalty to Jesus gave him courage as he shared the Good News and did all he could to build up the Church. “Through (Christ) the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:21-22). Whenever our faith falters, we can remember just how faithful a doubter can become when we trust in our Lord.
Suggested missionary action: Let us pray to St. Thomas, asking him to help us have an ever-deepening belief in Jesus. We can also imitate him by frequently turning our thoughts to Christ and saying, “My Lord and my God!”