Saint Thomas, the Doubting Apostle - "Healing the Wounds of our Unbelief"
Incrdulo Toms (Doubting Thomas) by Bernardo Strozzi; circa 1620; Museum of Art of Ponce, Puerto Rico, United States;
commons.wikimedia.org
NOW THOMAS, ONE OF THE TWELVE, who is called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
The other disciples therefore said to him: We have seen the Lord. But he said to them: Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.
And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them.
Jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said: Peace be to you.
Then he saith to Thomas: Put in thy finger hither, and see my hands; and bring hither thy hand, and put it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing.
Thomas answered, and said to him: My Lord, and my God.
Jesus saith to him: Because thou hast seen me, Thomas, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed.
Many other signs also did Jesus in the sight of his disciples, which are not written in this book.
But these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God: and that believing, you may have life in his name.
Saint John 20:24-31
What, dearest brethren do you notice in this passage? Do you think that it happened by chance, that this chosen disciple was absent at that time, and afterwards coming, heard the news, and hearing doubted, that doubting, he touched, and touching, he believed? This did not happen by chance, but by divine dispensation. For the divine clemency brought it about in a wonderful way that the doubting disciple, while touching the wounds in His masters flesh, should thereby heal the wounds of our unbelief.
The unbelief of Thomas is more to our faith than the faith of the believing disciples. While he is brought back to faith by touching, our minds are set free from doubt and established in the faith.
So the Lord indeed after His resurrection permitted His disciple to doubt, but He did not leave him in unbelief; just as before His birth He wished Mary to have a spouse, (....)
The disciple who doubted and touched his risen Lord thus became a witness to the truth of the resurrection, just as the spouse of His mother was the guardian of her inviolate virginity.
Thomas touched, and cried out: My Lord, and my God.
Jesus said to him: Because you have seen Me, you have believed. But since the Apostle Saint Paul says: Now faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not; it is certainly clear that faith is the evidence of those things which cannot appear. The things which appear are the object, not of faith, but of knowledge.
Why then is it said to Thomas, who saw and touched: Because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed? But he saw one thing and believed another. Indeed, mortal man cannot see the divinity.
So Thomas saw a man, and confessed Him to be God, saying: My Lord and my God. He therefore believed through seeing, for, looking upon One Who was truly man, he cried out that this was God, whom he could not see.
The words which follow are cause of great joy to us: Blessed are they who have not seen, and have believed. These words are meant especially for us who cherish in our minds Him, whom we do not see in the flesh. They are meant for us; but only if we carry out our faith in works. For he truly believes, who puts his faith into practice.
Thomas the apostle, Russian icon from first quarter of 18th century; Iconostasis of Transfiguration church, Kizhi Monastery, Karelia, Russia;
commons.wikimedia.org
O glorious apostle, Thomas! who didst lead to Christ so many unbelieving nations, hear now the prayers of the faithful, who beseech thee to lead them to that Same Jesus, who, in five days, will have shown Himself to His Church. That we may merit to appear in His divine presence, we need, before all other graces, the light which leads to Him.
That light is faith; then, pray that we may have faith. Heretofore, our Saviour had compassion on thy weakness and deigned to remove from thee the doubt of His having risen from the grave; pray to Him for us, that He will mercifully come to our assistance, and make Himself felt by our heart, We ask not, O holy apostle! to see Him with the eyes of our body, but with those of our faith; for He said to thee, when He showed Himself to thee:
Blessed are they who have not seen, and have believed!
Of this happy number we desire to be. We beseech thee, therefore, pray that we may obtain the faith of the heart and will, that so, when we behold the divine Infant wrapped in swaddling-clothes and laid in a manger, we may cry out: My Lord! and my God !
Pray, O holy apostle, for the nations thou didst evangelize, but which have fallen back again into the shades of death. May the day soon come, when the Sun of justice will once more shine upon them.
Bless the efforts of those apostolic men, who have devoted their labours and their very lives to the work of the missions; pray that the days of darkness may be shortened, and that the countries, which were watered by thy blood, may see that kingdom of God established amongst them, which thou didst preach to them, and for which we also are in waiting.
Saint Peter then continued: (...) "The servant of Christ, our dearest brother Thomas, will follow his Master preaching in India, in Persia and among the Parthians, Medes, Hircanians, Brahmans, Bactrians. He shall baptize the three Magi Kings and, as they shall be attracted by the rumor of his preaching and his miracles, he shall instruct them fully in all things according to their expectations."
From The Mystical City of God, Book IV, manifested by Our Lady to Sr. Mary of Jesus of Agreda
"Saint John Chrysostom [bishop of Constantinople 400 A.D.] asserts that after the resurrection of Christ, Saint Thomas the Apostle came to the country of these Magi, and baptized them, and associated them with him in preaching the Gospel."
Basilica of SantApollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, Italy: "The Three Wise Men" (named Balthasar, Melchior, and Gaspar). Detail from: "Mary and Child, surrounded by Angels", mosaic of a Ravennate Italian-Byzantine workshop, completed in 526 A.D. by the so-called Master of SantApollinare. Photo credit: Nina Aldin Thune; commons.wikimedia.org
December 21 - (Traditional Calendar); July 3 - (New): Saint Thomas, the Doubting Apostle - "Healing the Wounds of our Unbelief" - Patron saint of Atheist converts
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