St. Thomas gets sort of a bad rap in the general Catholic saint culture. He had been tagged in the world as “Doubting Thomas”. But if we look at all the instances when Thomas is mentioned in the Gospel and his life after the resurrection of Christ, we see a man with much more than just doubts.
Jesus moved his disciples out of Jerusalem to avoid conflict with the authorities. When he decides to return due to his friend Lazarus’ sickness, Thomas was the first to speak up and confirm that he would accompany Jesus. Knowing full well that the consequences of returning to the capital area could lead to their deaths, Thomas is obedience and faithful to Jesus’ plan. Thomas openly announces to the other apostles his intentions and in so doing acts as a stimulus for them to continue to follow Jesus into Jerusalem despite their fears and trepidations.
Later at the Last Supper, Jesus announces that he is leaving and that all know the way to get to where he is going. A disheartened Thomas openly verbalizes the confusion that surely the other apostles had: “We don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Thanks to Thomas’ open and trusting sharing of his confusion, we have an expanded and clarifying response from Jesus. “I am the way.”
Finally, we see Thomas again in today’s Gospel. He was not present with the apostle and the first Christian community when the risen Christ appeared to them after his death. We don’t know what, but something had separated him from the community that day (fear, a party, movie, sports). His first reaction upon hearing of the resurrection, is just as that of the other apostles who heard the news from the women. Surely all this is a delirious hysteria due to grief. The following Sunday, he makes one of the strongest faith statements in the Gospel: “My Lord and my God.” Joined to the local faith community, Thomas proclaims deep faith. That recognition that Jesus was not just another good rabbi, another prophet, or a good neighbor comes to Thomas when he is with that first Christian community.
Thomas shows us the importance of:
obedience and faithfulness,
openly proclaiming that trust,
open dialog, and
the primal importance of being joined to the local faith community.
Tradition holds that Thomas’ faith was so strong and confident that he ministered outside the Roman Empire, far from Israel. He preached the Gospel in southern India where he was eventually martyred. He does not deserve to be known as The Doubter!
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”
Image: https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=410