Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle
I recently visited Lakeland, Florida, where I took an in-depth tour of the campus of Florida Southern College. The College has been heralded as the most beautiful college campus in Florida, due to the large number of buildings designed by the renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright. When Mr. Wright visited the college campus for the first time to discuss his potential commissioning, he remarked that he could envision buildings on this landscape that would grow “out of the ground and into the light – a Child of the Sun.”
Our readings today reflect a similar vision, appropriate for the Feast of Saint Thomas the Apostle, the patron saint of architects. Saint Paul’s letter to the Ephesians describes each of us as fellow citizens with the holy ones of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles (including doubting Thomas!) and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone, who holds all of us together as we are built into a dwelling place of God.
Our gospel tells the story of Saint Thomas’ transformation from an “I have to see it to believe it” doubter into a bold proclaimer of Jesus as his Lord and his God. Tradition tells us that after Pentecost, Saint Thomas went on to evangelize as far as India, carrying the Faith to the Malabar coast, which still boasts a large native population calling themselves “Christians of Saint Thomas.”
Jesus responds to Thomas’ declaration of “My Lord and my God” with a message for us today – “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” Jesus also knew that we would need something more than “blind faith” to strengthen us, so he has given us an even greater gift – his real presence in the Eucharist.
Today, will I allow the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist to transform my doubt into bold faith and action as a “Child of the Son?”
Let Us Pray:
O God, as we truly receive in the Sacrament of the Eucharist the Body of your Only Begotten Son, grant, we pray, that we may recognize him with the Apostle Thomas by faith as our Lord and our God and proclaim him by our deeds and by our life. Who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.
