“My Lord and My God!”

| SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

Feast of Saint Thomas, apostle

Father Robert DeCesare, LC

John 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 he said to them, "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." 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."

Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for the gift of faith I received with baptism. I believe all that you have revealed, though I recognize that my faith is still small. I now submerge my weak faith in your overflowing goodness and mercy, and I trust in you completely. I love you, my Lord and my God, with all my mind, heart, soul and strength.

Petition: Lord, increase my faith.

1. “I Will Not Believe.” Lord, I live in a culture where I have to know everything. If there are no facts, if I lack evidence, then I refuse to believe. At times, Lord, even with facts and evidence in front of me, I still refuse to believe. I know, Lord, that faith calls for man “to commit his entire self to God” ( Dei Verbum 5). Thomas refuses to do this when the apostles share the exciting news: “We have seen the Lord” (John 20:25). But their news does not correspond to what Thomas knows. He knows that you died. Maybe he went to the tomb on Saturday. He would have seen the guards stationed there and would have imagined that there was no way to take you from the tomb. Do I come up with convincing reasons not to believe? If I do, how can I answer better through faith?

2. “Do Not Be Unbelieving, But Believe.” Lord, Thomas looks at you in the Upper Room as you say this. I recall the words: “Everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32). You invite Thomas to take that step of faith: to leave behind what he knows and to accept your Resurrection. He had seen you raise Lazarus, and now you invite him to believe that you yourself are forever alive. You are God, both living and true. There in the Upper Room, you invite me, as you did Thomas, to believe that you are alive in my life. Lord, I want you to have a strong presence in my life.

3. “Blessed Are Those Who Have Not Seen, and Have Believed.” Lord, I cannot make it to heaven without faith. Your words to Thomas allude to what lies in store for me if I believe until death. I was not alive when you walked on the earth, but in the light of what you say to Thomas, I have all the more reason to exercise my faith and pray as Thomas did: “My Lord and my God.” You desire my faith, Lord, just as you desired Thomas’. How great you are, Lord! “Faith is first and foremost a personal adherence of man to God” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 150). I want to adhere to you, my Lord and my God.

Conversation with Christ: Lord, I believe that you want to be a great part of my life. You want to be the Lord of it. My faith is so little. Help me to increase my faith. Give it what it needs to grow.

Resolution: Today during the day I will read numbers 150-152 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church about faith, so as to work to increase my faith in God.

“So I am Sending You”

by CE Editor on July 3, 2013 ·

Lectio:

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Ordinary Time

1) Opening prayer

Father,
you call your children
to walk in the light of Christ.
Free us from darkness
and keep us in the radiance of your truth.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

2) Gospel Reading – John 20,24-29

Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, ‘We have seen the Lord,’ but he answered, ‘Unless I can see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.’
Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them. ‘Peace be with you,’ he said. Then he spoke to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side. Do not be unbelieving any more but believe.’
Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him: You believe because you can see me. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.

3) Reflection

• Today is the Feast of Saint Thomas and the Gospel speaks to us about the encounter of Jesus with Thomas, the apostle who wanted to see in order to believe. For this reason many call him Thomas the incredulous. In reality the message of this Gospel is very diverse. It is much more profound and actual.
• John 20, 24-25: The doubt of Thomas. Thomas, one of the twelve was not present when Jesus appeared to the disciples the week before. He did not believe in the witness of the others who said: “We have seen the Lord”. He gives some conditions: “Unless I can see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe”. Thomas is very demanding. In order to believe he wants to see! He does not want a miracle in order to believe. No! He wants to see the signs on the hands, on the feet and on the side! He does not believe in the glorious Jesus, separated from the human Jesus who suffered on the Cross. When John writes, at the end of the first century, there were some persons who did not accept the coming of the Son of God in the flesh (2 Jn 7; 1 Jn 4, 2-3). They were the Gnostics who despised matter and the body. John presents this concern of Thomas to criticize the Gnostics: “To see in order to believe”. The doubt of Thomas also makes us see the difficulty of believing in the Resurrection!
• John 20, 26-27: Do not be unbelieving but believe. The text says “six days later”. That means that Thomas was capable of maintaining his opinion during a whole week against the witness of the other Apostles. Stubborn! Thank God, for us! Thus, six days later, during the community meeting, they once again had the profound experience of the presence of the risen Lord in their midst. The closed doors could not prevent the presence of Jesus in the midst of those who believe in him. Today, it is also like this. When we are meeting, even when we are meeting with the doors closed, Jesus is in our midst. And up until today, the first word of Jesus is and will always be: “Peace be with you!” What impresses is the kindness of Jesus. He does not criticize, nor does he judge the unbelief of Thomas, but he accepts the challenge and says: “Thomas, put your finger in the hole of my hands!” Jesus confirms the conviction of Thomas and of the communities, that is, the glorious Risen One is the tortured crucified One! The Jesus who is in the community is not a glorious Jesus who has nothing in common with our life. He is the same Jesus who lived on this earth and on his body he has the signs of his Passion. The signs of the Passion are found today in the sufferings of people, in hunger, in the signs of torture, of injustice. And Jesus becomes present in our midst in the persons who react, who struggle for life and who do not allow themselves to be disheartened. Thomas believes in this Christ and so do we!

• John 20, 28-29: Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe. Together with him we say: “My Lord and my God!” This gift of Thomas is the ideal attitude of faith. And Jesus completes with a final message: “You believe because you can see me. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe!” With this phrase, Jesus declares blessed all of us who find ourselves in the same condition: without having seen, we believe that Jesus, who is in our midst, is the same One who died crucified!
The mandate: “As the Father sent me so I am sending you!” From this Jesus, who was crucified and rose from the dead, we receive the mission, the same one which he has received from the Father (Jn 20, 21). Here, in the second apparition, Jesus repeats: “Peace be with you!” This repetition stresses the importance of Peace. To construct peace forms part of the mission. Peace means much more than the absence of war. It means to construct a harmonious human living together in which persons can be themselves, having everything necessary to live, living happily together in peace. This was the mission of Jesus and also our own mission. Jesus breathed and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit” (Jn 20, 22). And with the help of the Holy Spirit we will be capable to fulfil the mission which he has entrusted to us. Then Jesus communicates the power to forgive sins: “If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you retain anyone’s sins, they are retained!” The central point of the mission of peace is reconciliation, in the effort of trying to overcome barriers which separate us. This power of reconciling and of forgiving is given to the community (Jn 20, 23); Mt18, 18). In the Gospel of Matthew, this power is also given to Peter (Mt 16, 19). Here we can perceive that a community without pardon and without reconciliation is not a Christian community. In one word, our mission is that of “forming community” according to the example of the community of the Father, of the Son and the Holy Spirit.

This reflection is the work of the good Carmelites at ocarm.org