Reflection
“Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.”
The disciples were stunned by the sudden appearance of this beloved teacher who they had witnessed, just a few days before being mocked, tortured, crucified, died and buried. Yet here he was, alive and well. standing in their midst in the upper room. What emotions must they have experienced: bewilderment, confusion, hopefulness, expectation, joy and many more. He was ready to send them off onto their long-anticipated ministries. We too have been exultant and filled with emotion for this past week since our Lord has risen from the dead and is alive among us. We too journeyed through the long and tortuous journey of his passion and death throughout Lent and Holy Week. And like that evening of the first day of the week, here he is to send us individually off onto our long-anticipated ministries.
But all is still not clear. Thomas is missing during that initial visitation. When he is informed of the miraculous appearance of the Savior, he is stubbornly resistant:
“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.”
How could he not have believed what he was being told? He had walked alongside these fellow disciples for the three years of Jesus’ ministry. Together they witnessed every form of miracle and listened to all of Jesus’ teachings. They had bonded as one in this overarching ministry. So where did the doubt come from?
The “Doubting Thomas” reading has always been challenging to us. We face an inevitable question involving our own perceptions and doubts in our faith. Had we been in Thomas’ shoes would we have also doubted and demanded proof? Have we previously sometimes doubted what God and our faith have laid out in front of us? Unfortunately, I expect that the answer for most of us is yes. It certainly is for me. Our human nature makes it difficult to believe what we cannot see, touch, feel, or experience with our own senses. However, I am reminded of my favorite line in the movie the “City of Angels”: “some things are true whether we believe them or not.”
We know and understand that faith is a gift from God. We require an openness to the grace of the Holy Spirit to fully embrace that faith. St. Paul of the Cross pointed that out eloquently in his discourses with his spiritual followers about “total surrender to God’s holy will”. However even in our most fervent attempts to embrace God’s will and to be open to the precepts of our faith, we realize that our human nature is still calling us to only credit what our senses are telling us and to discredit those things that are true whether we believe them or not. Of course we each have the added complexity of an ever-present devil trying desperately to turn us away from the grace of faith that God is offering to us.
St. Thomas, the one called Didymus, please intercede for us that we might continually be more open to the faith that God has blessed us with and allow that faith to grow throughout our lives whether we can put our fingers into his nailmarks or our hand in his side.
May the Passion of Jesus Christ be always in our hearts.
Me identifico con la duda y cuestinamiento de Tomás Apóstol, en mi cotidianidad familiar, aún padezco de las secuelas de la violencia doméstica, las dificultades que se presentan por enfermedad, muerte, estilo de vida mundano, me entristece, reto a superar, porque resulta fácil costreñir,amenazarme para que me una a ellos y en otros espacios ha sido igual, hace un tiempo atrás ante mi temor de desertar he pedido apoyo espiritual incansablemente y gracias a Dios he perseverado…
Siga dando frutos abundantes en su obra evangelizadora, unida en oración, desde Colombia 🙏🏽😇👏🏼