Today,
the Church celebrates the festivity of St. Thomas. After describing
the apparition of Jesus on Easter Sunday, evangelist John, tell us
that the apostle Thomas was not with them, and when the Apostles —who
had seen the Lord— were bearing witness of him, Thomas replied:
«Until I have seen in his hands the print of the nails, and put
my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will
not believe» (Jn 20:25).
Jesus
is good and meets Thomas. Eight days later, Jesus appears once more
and tells Thomas: «Put your finger here and see my hands;
stretch out your hand and put it into my side. Resist no longer and
be a believer» (Jn 20:27).
—O Jesus, you are
so good! If you ever see me moving away from You, come to meet me, as
you did to meet Thomas.
These
words were Thomas' reaction: «You are my Lord and my God!»
(Jn 20:28). How beautiful these words are! Thomas calls him
“Lord” and “God”. He makes an act of faith in
the divinity of Jesus. When seeing him resurrected, Thomas sees not
only Jesus, the man, who was with the Apostles and ate with them, but
his Lord and his God.
Jesus
reprimands him and tells him not to be incredulous but a believer,
and He adds: «Happy are those who have not seen and believe»
(Jn 20:28). We have not seen the crucified Christ or have we
seen the resurrected Christ either, nor has He appeared to us, but we
are happy because we believe in this Jesus Christ that has died and
has resurrected for us.
Let us therefore pray:
«My Lord and my God, remove from me all that can prevent me
from going to You. My Lord and my God, give me all that can draw me
to You. My Lord and my God, detach me from myself to give my all to
you» (St. Nicholas von Flüe).
