Can you imagine an Apostle, the closest followers of Christ, having doubts about Jesus? St. Thomas did and his disbelief helps us to understand how important the gift of faith is.
On the evening of Jesus’ Resurrection, Thomas was not with the other Apostles in the Upper Room in Jerusalem, so he was not present when Jesus appeared to them and showed them the wounds on his hands and his side. Later, the other Apostles told Thomas, “We have see the Lord” (John 20:25). Imagine how shocked they must have been when Thomas answered them by saying, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25).
A week later, Jesus again came to the Apostles. After wishing them peace, Jesus told Thomas to look at his hands and to touch his side. He invited Thomas to believe. Thomas was ashamed that he had doubted Jesus’ Resurrection. He said, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). Then Jesus said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed” (John 20:29).
Thomas never doubted the Lord again and he dedicated his life to helping others to believe in Jesus—even though they never saw Christ face to face. Tradition tells us that Thomas went to India to spread the Gospel. Even today, the Catholics living on the Malabar Coast, the southwest part of India, call themselves “Christians of St. Thomas” because he founded their community and helped them to grow in faith.
We honor St. Thomas as a saint. His life teaches us to trust in everything the Lord has promised us so that we, too, can rise to new life, as Jesus did.
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