2019 07 03 Reflection 587 (Bro. Dileep Veigas OP on Jn 20: 24-29)

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Dear friends in Jesus Christ,
Today the Catholic Church celebrated the feast of St. Thomas the Apostle, an apostle known as doubting Thomas. He is one of the figures in the Bible from whom we can learn few aspects for our life.
He is a man known for his doubt
Thomas, also called the "Twin," is one of Jesus' own disciples who walked with Him and saw Him do divine things. We know him as "doubting Thomas," because of the fact that he doubted Christ's resurrection.
Therefore he said, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."
A week later, the disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was also there with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace be with you!"
Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at my hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into my side. Do not doubt, but believe." And Thomas responded with repentance, "My Lord and my God!" and proclaimed the divinity of Christ.
St. Thomas Aquinas says, Thomas "saw one thing, and believed another" he saw the Man, and believing Him to be God, he made profession of his faith, saying: "My Lord and my God."
Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
This passage gives us several insights and we can learn three messages from this text.
1) Doubt impaired his ability to believe
The Gospel tells us that Thomas was not there when the risen Lord showed Himself to His disciples. The disciples who saw the Lord told him that Jesus is alive, but he wouldn't believe them.
Think about this: Thomas walked with Jesus in the company of disciples, and yet his doubt rendered him unable to believe their testimony, as well as what the Lord Jesus told them before His suffering and death. His doubt disabled his ability to believe.
In the same way, our doubts, when it is allowed, will not allow us to believe anymore. We must be careful not to doubt, but to believe.
2) Faith does not depend on tangible proof
We read in the passage how Thomas said that unless he sees proof of Christ's resurrection, he won't believe it. There is indeed a proof that Christ is risen from the dead and lives. To the one who believes no proof is required, for an unbeliever no proofs are sufficient. Believing because of a tangible proof will not make belief a faith anymore.
Hebrews 11:1 tells us that "faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." By faith, we are able to believe in God who is unseen, yet true. Without faith we won't be able to see God's glory.
We must choose to believe in God for faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ. (Rom 10:17)
3) God wants us to believe in Him even if we don't see Him
Finally, it was OK for Christ to show Himself to Thomas and give him proof that He's alive, we read Him expressing His desire from people to believe in Him, even if they haven't seen Him yet.
"Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:29)
God wants us also to believe in Him even without tangible proof. That's evidence of our faith in Him.
Therefore, today let us ask ourselves do we believe that Jesus speaks to us through the Gospel in the mass every day?
does our faith in God depend only on the tangible proofs?
Do we really feel the presence of God in our lives without doubting?
Amen.