Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle
Scripture:
Ephesians 2:19-22
John 20:24-29
Reflection:
Today we celebrate the feast of St. Thomas, commonly refered to as “doubting Thomas”. But wouldn’t you have been skeptical as well? To have seen your Lord crucified, died and buried? I don’t think his request was unreasonable at all.
The cool thing is that when Jesus rejoined them in the upper room, he didn’t say”Gee, Thomas, why didn’t you believe I was alive? Where’s your faith?” He said, rather, “Peace be with you.” Come and see, and believe!
I’m no different than Thomas. I know that God is with me and wants to use me, but I have doubts all the time. I keep thinking how could God use me? What can I say that will make a difference in someone’s life? But the truth is, we can all make a difference. We are on this journey together and we can help each other. Let the Lord use you to be a blessing to someone today. Whatever your doubts are, ask Jesus to show you the truth. Seek the answers in His Word and ask a trusted friend to pray for you and with you.
In the first reading, we are reminded that we are already a part of the communion of saints, and that we “are being built together into a dwelling place for God in the Spirit.” If we really believe that, we can have a positive impact on the world around us! We can stand together, and fight to keep our religious freedoms. We can offer to help a woman in a crisis pregnancy rather than just saying abortion is wrong. We can truly make a difference! And as the responsorial psalm says, we can “go out to all the world and tell the good news.”
And what is this good news? That God is for us and wants the best for each of us . . . that He is crazy in love with us and that He will help us through any difficulty we encounter. . . that we can have a personal relationship with this amazing, loving, God so we are never ever alone. . . and that He sent Jesus to show us how to live and love in this life and how to follow Him into the next! Wahoo!!! Once we know Him and the great hope to which we are called, how can we not want everyone on the planet to know Him so that they too can experience the peace and hope and joy that He alone offers?
Janice Carleton and her husband Jim live in Bainbridge Island, Washington, and partner with Passionist Fr. Cedric Pisegna in Fr. Cedric Ministries. She is the mother of 4 grown children and grandmother of 6. Janice also leads women’s retreats and recently published her second book: God IS with Us. Visit Janice’s website at http://www.janicecarleton.com/ or email her at [email protected].