July 3, 2021

Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle

Lectionary: 593

Reading I

Eph 2:19-22

Brothers and sisters:
You are no longer strangers and sojourners,
but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones
and members of the household of God, 
built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets,
with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.
Through him 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.

Responsorial Psalm

117:1bc, 2

1.  (Mark 16:15)  Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
   Praise the LORD, all you nations;
       glorify him, all you peoples!
   R.   Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
   For steadfast is his kindness for us,
       and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever. 
   R.   Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.

Alleluia

Jn 20:29

1. Alleluia, alleluia.
   You believe in me, Thomas, because you have seen me, says the Lord;
   blessed are those who have not seen, but still believe!
   R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Jn 20:24-29

Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve,
was not with them when Jesus came.
So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”
But Thomas said to them,
“Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands
and put my finger into the nailmarks
and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
Now a week later his disciples were again inside
and Thomas was with them.
Jesus came, although the doors were locked,
and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands,
and bring your hand and put it into my side,
and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”
Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

Reflection: A DOUBT THAT CLEARED ALL OUR DOUBTS

The feast of St. Thomas is a big feast for us, Indians, as our land is privileged to have been evangelized by an apostle who lived with Jesus, walked with Jesus, and moreover, touched the resurrected Jesus, later died for Christ as a martyr. Let us understand the skeptical character of St. Thomas. This so called defect of Thomas goes to assure all of us that each of us is unique and that each of us has a personal understanding and belief in the Risen Lord. On Easter Day, Jesus made an appearance to His disciples but Thomas was absent. Jesus was suddenly there, right in the midst of them, in His risen body. In various ways the apostles and other disciples recognized resurrected Jesus because He spoke to them with same authority, loved them as He always loved them. The gestures and words are same when he met them again and again after the resurrection, but there is some novelty in these new encounters: He wished them peace because they were afraid of Him, breathed new life into them because they were coward, and gave them the new mission: “As the Father has sent me, sol send you. Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:21). Nonetheless, Thomas would not believe all these. But this really was nothing new for Thomas. When Jesus went against His disciples' wishes and decided to go up to Jerusalem, Thomas expressed their fears by saying, “Yes, let us also go to die with Him” (John 11:6). When Jesus assured the Apostles that by dying He would return to the Father and that they knew the way to follow Him, Thomas objected, saying, "We do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" (John 14:5) So, it's not surprising that when the others were telling him of the Resurrection, in typical “Thomas Fashion," he responded, "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” (John 20:25). We need to be grateful to St. Thomas for doing a considerable favour. By placing his fingers in the wounds of Jesus, his faith was reinforced, got a solid physical, logical and rational proof for the resurrection of Jesus. By his doubting, he cleared all our doubts and led us to deeper understanding of Jesus by his response: “My Lord and my God!" - a lovely prayer that is more than an act of faith; it's also an act of commitment and surrender. The 'doubting' Thomas has become the 'evangelizing' Thomas.