7/3/2015 – St Thomas, Apostle – John 20:24-29

    We are all probably very familiar with today’s Gospel about Jesus appearing to Thomas and the other disciples, of Thomas wanting to believe, but also needing to have concrete proof in order that he could believe.  How does Jesus respond to Thomas’ demand for concrete proof? Did he castigate or criticize Thomas for doubting? Did he tell him to have blind faith?  Did he demand that Thomas believe on the basis of the evidence he had already seen? 

      No, Jesus gave Thomas what he asked for.  He gave Thomas showed him the nail marks in his hands.  He let him touch his hand and his side.  Jesus did this so that Thomas not be unbelieving, so that he could believe.   Thomas gets a bad rap in the way we remember him, in labeling him “Doubting Thomas.”  Couldn’t he also be remembered as “Believing Thomas,” as one who ultimately did believe and who followed down the road of faith?

      A few years ago, a friend sent me an email written by a co-worker.  It said this: “I just don't understand...the more I search, the less I find. I don't understand how people can believe in whatever they believe in and be confident that what they believe in is the truth. The more research I've done, the more I look, the more I realize that nobody can know with 100% certainty that what they believe is true.” What this young man says is what a lot of people in our modern society embrace today.  With all the modern technology we have, with the hope and trust we place in science and in the material world, we have to see and we have to have proof.  Not just some proof – but 100% proof.  How can we be 100% sure of anything?  I don’t think that is ever possible.   When all is said and done, we cannot forget what Jesus says after he shows Thomas his hand and his side: “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

       As we celebrate St Thomas the Apostle today, may we celebrate our belief in the risen Christ. During this Fortnight for Freedom, we have been praying for the freedom to practice our faith here in the United States, an important right that we often take for granted.  May we pray that we grow in our faith and in our belief, even when we do not have 100% proof.  And may we honor and cherish the freedom we have to believe.  

7/3/2014 – St Thomas the Apostle – John 20:24-29

      “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hand and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”  This statement of Thomas in John’s Gospel is so memorable.  In many ways, Thomas’ proclamation is symbolic of how many in the modern world view faith today.  We need proof. We need to see. We want something tangible, something to grab onto.  Many in our present day see faith as an excuse to say that one believes in something and want it to be true.

      No one today can see and experience Christ in the way Thomas did in that locked room in Jerusalem.  Thomas saw the risen Christ eat and pray and explain the events of the past week to his group of disciples.  We cannot literally put our fingers in the wounds in his hands and side like Thomas did.  Christ seemed to know this when he said – “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”  We might not see him in a literal the way Thomas did, but all who believe see Christ somehow in their lives.  They see him for who he is.  We must see him somehow with our own eyes.  Like Thomas and the other disciples, becoming a follower of Christ come through faith.  And through witnessing Christ’s presence in our lives, we in turn are called to be witnesses ourselves, just as Thomas did in his life when he became a missionary to Syria, Persia, and India.  We can see Thomas as our patron saint, as a saint who helps us believe in the midst of our doubts and insecurities.  Lord, help us in our disbelief.  Help us to take that leap of believing in you. 

7/3/2012 – St Thomas the Apostle – Tuesday of 13th week of ordinary time – Ephesians 2:19-22, John 20:24-29

         Paul tells us today that we are no longer strangers or sojourners, but rather citizens, holy ones, and members of God’s family.  When you think about it, we all want a sense of belonging in life.  Hopefully we feel that sense of belonging as followers of Jesus in a very special way, a belonging that fills a lot of the gaps that exist in our lives.  This past weekend, we closed down one of my parishes in Yazoo City, as we had the last mass there with our wonderful Bishop, Joseph Latino.  That parish – St Francis of Assisi -  had been in Yazoo City since 1939.  It severed the African American population of the area, with the school connected to the parish providing a wonderful education to so many children until the day the school closed its doors in 1970.  We celebrated its wonderful heritage and history, and gave thanks to God for all of the blessings we received through this parish throughout the years.  We are grieving now, but we do so with a sense of hope as we move forward as the Catholic Community in Yazoo City at St Mary parish.

         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 all the time.  Sometimes they are not the signs or the proof that we asking for, but that is what God gives us on our journey.   Tradition has it that Thomas, the one who is known as the doubter, went to India to bring the Good News of the Lord to the people there.  We recently received three priests from India as missionaries here in Mississippi, part of the tradition that Thomas brought to that country.  
           We continue to celebrate the Fortnight for Freedom in our country as declared by the Bishops.  This is a challenging time for us as a nation and as a Church.  We see a government and a society that is becoming hostile to the message of Christ and to the way we are called to live out our faith.  We need to witness to the world - that is the mandate we receive from Christ - "Go out to all the world and tell the Good News" as it says in the psalm this morning.  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.”  May we thank God for the grace to believe, even in the midst of the challenges and struggles that we go through in life.