In the letter to the Ephesians, Paul tells us that we are no longer strangers or sojourners, but rather citizens, holy ones, and members of God’s family. We all want a sense of belonging in life, don’t we? We want to feel a sense of belonging in our family, our school, our work, and our community. Hopefully we feel that sense of belonging as Christ’s disciples that fills in a lot of holes that we have in our lives. As a priest, I have served in a lot of different parts of Mississippi. Each parish has its own personality and its own story, its our history. Each parish forms a family of faith in a unique way.
Thomas wanted proof in order to believe. Yet, sometimes we don’t get the tangible proof we want. We receive different signs and graces from God, but sometimes they are not the signs or proof we are asking for. Tradition passes down that Thomas the Apostle traveled to India to bring Christ’s Good News to the people there. We have many priests from India working as missionaries here in our Diocese of Jackson, part of the tradition that Thomas brought to that country. We do not have to travel to a faraway land to bring the Good News to others. We all receive that mandate from Christ as it is expressed in the psalm today: "Go out to all the world and tell the Good News" as it says in the psalm. Proclaiming that Good News is not easy, especially in our modern world. But that is what we are called to do.
“Blessed are those who have not seen and who believe.” We hear this statement made in our Gospel today in conjunction with Thomas. May we thank God for the grace to believe, even in the midst of our challenges and struggles.
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