July 3, 2015 Friday, 13th Week in Ordinary Time St. Thomas, Apostle 1st Reading: Eph 2:19–22
Gospel: Jn 20:24–29
Thomas, the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he 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.” Eight days later, the disciples were inside again and Thomas was with them. Despite the locked doors Jesus came and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to 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.” Thomas then said, “You are my Lord and my God.” Jesus replied, “You believe because you see me, don’t you? Happy are those who have not seen and believe.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated
Life Experience)
Few people have the privilege of building up his faith the way they want it built. Thomas the Apostle had that privilege. In today’s Gospel he said: “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.” His demands reflected the status of his faith that needed massive sensitization after suffering a fatal fall due to the Calvary event. Jesus accommodated him, at which Thomas exclaimed: “My Lord and my God!”
Did Thomas recover his faith? He did, but not the way Jesus wanted it. In fact Jesus rebuked Thomas saying, “Happy are those who have not seen and believe.” There are two ways people believe. Some believe because the rational probative value of evidence before them is formidable. Others believe not because of evidence but because of their relationship with the one testifying. Thomas belonged to the first.
As Christians we maneuver in the sea of doubt because matters we believe about God are mostly veiled in mystery. At the Mass, for example Jesus is truly present but not the way we want it. But if we would have it our way, faith would be useless. It is beneficial to our faith that we should experience God’s presence veiled in the externalities of bread and wine. In faith we believe that the substance of bread turns into Christ’s body at the words of consecration, and that of the wine into His blood. This gives us an edge over Thomas who had lesser opportunities to believe without seeing. Saint Augustine assures us in his Sermons: “Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward for this faith is to see what you believe” – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.