Feast of Saint Thomas the Apostle
The apostle Thomas was not in the upper room when Jesus appeared to the disciples. They related what they had experienced, and he responded that unless he saw the wounds of the crucifixion on the body of Jesus, he would not believe. Jesus appeared again, and Thomas was with them. When Thomas saw Jesus, he didn’t need any other proof, so he exclaimed, “My Lord and my God.” His personal encounter with the Risen Jesus made all the difference. But there is an “obiter dictum” in the text, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
In Acts of the Apostles, we read that people were attracted to this new group because of how much they loved one another. This small community’s love for one another was rooted in their belief that God loved them in Jesus.
Over the centuries, as the Church grew and expanded into new lands and cultures, there was a need to institutionalize this growing and diverse community. Creeds, dogmas, liturgical guidelines, and a moral code were developed and codified. People needed to be catechized and evangelized.
For many centuries, this system of belief and behavior produced a Catholic cultural cohesion in which people were bound together in the Church.
Many born before the early 1960s grew up in a culturalized Catholicism. As Catholics, we knew what was expected of us and what we could and could not do. That cultural-religious cohesion is gone.
Today, many of us perhaps feel like Thomas. We are told many “things” about Jesus, but, like Thomas, what makes Jesus real is our personal experience of the Living Jesus. Two experiences can make him real to us: his REAL PRESENCE in the Eucharistic Celebration and the REAL PRESENCE of Jesus in the poor, hungry, homeless, and refugees.
Let Us Pray:
Your early disciples greatly benefited from living with you and getting to know his love for everyone. They also experienced him as the Resurrected Lord. We take hope in the words, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” Strengthen our faith and give us abundant grace to see you in the Eucharist and experience you in the poor for whom you have always shown your favor. Amen.
