THOMAS WAS THE ONLY ONE BOLD ENOUGH …

THOMAS WAS THE ONLY ONE BOLD ENOUGH …

(A biblical refection on SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER, 27 April 2014)

Gospel Reading: John 20:19-31

First Reading: Acts 2:42-47; Psalms: Psalm 118:2-4,13-15,22-24; Second Reading:1Peter 1:3-9

The Scripture Text
On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, even so I send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in His side, I will not believe.”

Eight days later, His disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said, “Peace be with you.” Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see My hands; and put out your hand, and place it in My side; do not be faithless, but believing.” Thomas answered Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name. (John 20:19-31 RSV)

It is said that truth is stranger than fiction, and the disciples’ story to Thomas is a classic example. “Guess what, Thomas? Jesus isn’t dead anymore! In fact, He showed up here, wounds and all, while you were out!” Then a week went by with nothing – no sign of Jesus. If you were Thomas, would you have believed such a tall tale?

Thomas wasn’t asked only to believe that Jesus rose from the dead. He could only base his belief upon the testimony of others. No wonder Thomas asked for more evidence. Thomas was no coward. In fact, he seems to have been the only disciple to go beyond their locked doors to face a hostile world. No, he had to be sure about his choice to risk his life for a crucified Messiah. Some of the other disciples also had doubts, but Thomas was the only one bold enough to ask to touch Jesus’ wounds. We often focus on the way Jesus chided Thomas for his unbelief, but we also need to remember that Jesus answered Thomas’s request! He revealed Himself, and ultimately Thomas believed.

In a way, we are in a similar position as Thomas. We too have to trust other people’s ancient testimony about Jesus. Such trust is important, but it is not enough. We also need to “see” Jesus for ourselves so that our faith will spring to life in a transforming way. We need to be convinced in our hearts as well as in our heads.

Jesus is eager to reveal Himself to us, even if it is not in the physical way He did for Thomas. If we unlock our minds and hearts, He can show Himself to us through His creation or through the kindness of others. Anything is possible when we are open to His presence! We will know our hearts are being stirred when we join with Thomas and cry out: “My Lord and my God!”

Prayer: Jesus, glorious risen Lord, I open my heart to you. Flood every corner of darkness and doubt with the light of Your truth. Blessed and holy are You! Amen.

Jakarta, 25 April 2014

A Christian Pilgrim

 

SAINT THOMAS AND HIS FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST

SAINT THOMAS AND HIS FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST

Feast day: July 3 

THOMAS was among those who saw the Lord Jesus Christ after His resurrection. What a privilege for him to have gazed upon the glorified body of Christ and be invited to touch His wounds! In Thomas’ day, only a few hundred people witnessed the resurrected Christ and believed in Him. Since then, however, millions upon millions have come to joyful belief in the miracle of the resurrection – most of them without the assistance of physical evidence. 

When Jesus told Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” (John 20:29), He was saying that His Church would be built principally upon faith. It is by faith in Jesus that the Holy Spirit comes to live in our hearts and bring the Gospel to life for us. Only through a faith in Jesus that goes beyond physical evidence or intellectual agreement can we be brought into the presence of Christ and receive all that God has for us. 

Through faith, we “are no longer strangers and sojourners, but … fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19). We are no longer outsiders. We can take our place with St. Francis of Assisi, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Francis Xavier, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, St. Angela Merici, St. Thomas More, and all the other heroines and heroes of Christianity whose memories we honor. We can all become living stones in the Church, built upon Jesus the cornerstone (see Acts 4:11; Psalm 118:22). Our foundation is not doctrine or ritual practices. It is Jesus Himself, the glorified Son of God, whom we can all come to know personally. 

Reasonable arguments or empirical data will never yield the blessings of a life built upon the cornerstone of Christ who offers transformation to every member. Thomas learned this lesson. When Jesus did appear to Thomas, He told him, “Put your finger here, and see My hands; and put out your hand, and place it in My side” (John 20:27). It is easy to picture Jesus smiling gently as He shows Thomas that his wildest dreams have in fact come true. No wonder Thomas burst forth with, “My Lord and my God!” Imagine the joy, relief, and wonder of seeing the risen Savior! Divine faith had flooded his heart and opened his eyes. He not only believed that Jesus has returned from the grave, he proclaimed that Jesus was God – a knowledge that could only have come through faith. Like Thomas, let us allow the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to Jesus’ majesty as we seek Him every day in faith. 

Jakarta, 3^rd of July 2013 

A Christian Pilgrim

 

JESUS CHRIST IS OUR LORD AND OUR GOD

JESUS CHRIST IS OUR LORD AND OUR GOD 

TO be a Christian not only in name but in reality, one must believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ, that He is true God and true man. To be a Christian means to believe that the Infinite Creator of heaven and earth became a speechless child who was conceived of His Virgin Mother, born at Bethlehem, died on the Cross, rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of His heavenly Father. 

Since the dawn of Christianity, the divinity of Christ has been the single most frequently and strongly challenged mystery of our faith. We say that the Church is going through the most serious crisis of the more than twenty centuries of her history. At the center of this crisis is the widespread doubt and denial that Jesus Christ, the Son of Mary, is the Son of the Living God. There is nothing else in our Catholic faith that needs to be more clearly understood and firmly believed than Christ’s divinity. 

Between Christ’s Ascension and the death of St. John the Evangelist were circulated the earliest heresies which denied that Jesus was indeed the Son of God. That is why the writings of the fourth evangelist are such a precious treasury of revealed wisdom testifying to the divinity of the Savior. The Apostle is so explicit about Christ’s oneness with the Father and Christ’s divine nature (see Jn 1:1-5 and the rest of the prologue), that critics of the faith have resorted to dismissing John’s writings as Hellenistic theory superimposed on the simple message of the other three synoptic Gospels. 

The heart of Christianity is faith in the incarnation: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth …”  (Jn 1:14). We believe that the Second Person of the Holy Trinity became man. We believe the Incarnation is the union of the Divine and human natures. John begins his Gospel with a prologue that leaves nothing to the imagination. Even if the Gospel were not the last inspired writing of the Apostle, it was certainly occasioned by the rise of Gnosticism. The Gnostics claimed to know the mysteries of the universe. According to them, matter is hostile to spirit. On these terms, God could not have become man. Why not? Because God, who is pure spirit, could not have united Himself with a human body. More importantly, the Gnostic denied an objective divine Revelation that was completed in the apostolic age and which the Church founded by Christ alone has the teaching authority to interpret decisively the meaning of what God has revealed. 

All the errors that are plaguing the modern age are rooted in Gnosticism. That is why the cardinal heresy among professed Christians is some form of Gnosticism disguised under a variety of clever names that fill so many books that are supposed to be Catholic. 

It is St. John who records the dialogue between a group of Jews and Jesus. It was the feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem; it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered round Him and said to Him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness to Me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to My sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” The Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of these to you stone Me?” The Jews answered Him, “We stone You for no good work but for blasphemy; because You, being a man, make Yourself God” (Jn 10:22-33). 

The crowning witness to His profession of divinity occurred a week after the Resurrection. The doubting Thomas was not among the apostles when the Savior appeared to them on Easter Sunday night. When the others told Thomas that they have seen the Lord, he stubbornly replied that he would not believe unless he put his fingers into the wounds in Christ’s hands and his hand into Christ’s opened side. A week later, Jesus appeared to the disciples, called Thomas to Him and asked Him to do exactly what Thomas had demanded as a condition for believing. Thomas repented of his doubt and pronounced the words that by now have been repeated millions of times by believing Catholics at the elevation during the Mass, “My Lord and my God,” Thomas declared (Jn 20:28). Human language could not be more clear. Jesus Christ is our Lord and our God. 

Jakarta, 6 February 2013

 

A Christian Pilgrim