Biographical Information about St. Thomas the Apostle[1]
Readings for Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Ephesians 2:19-22
In this passage, St. Paul describes the unity brought about among all believers in Christ. This unity is formed under a common teaching flowing from the Hebrew Prophets, through the Apostles to Christ himself who is described as the “capstone” or cornerstone. This unity of spirit becomes the Church – the “dwelling place for God in the Spirit.”
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 117:1bc, 2
R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
Using a refrain from St. Mark’s Gospel, the psalm is one of praise for the Good News of God’s salvation.
Gospel John 20:24-29
This story from St. John’s Gospel picks up just after Mary Magdalene has brought news to the disciples of the Risen Christ and he has appeared to them in the locked room. He (the Lord) has departed and now Thomas returns to find his friends speaking of Jesus’ return from the dead.
Thomas acquires his nickname by doubting what the other disciples tell him and persists until the Lord again comes to the locked upper room. To his credit, following the Lord’s own challenge St. Thomas applies the title “My Lord and my God”. It is the first time this title, reserved for God the Father, is given to the Son, proclaiming his divinity. The passage concludes with Jesus acknowledging the title but praising those not present who will believe in him without requiring physical proof.
Reflection:
Dying and rising – it is the promise and the reality of what Christ brings us. We see it in Christ, we see it in our selves, and we see it in all that is holy. It points us, the followers of Jesus who are so human and like St. Thomas and need the physical reality Christ to fully have faith in him, to what he left us, the Eucharist.
Dying and rising – in the Gospel we see the Lord rising, now showing us true God as well as true man. In rising we rejoice in the great promise of God who through His sacrifice offers us a means of unbounded happiness, free from sin. But first we must accept Jesus as St. Thomas does as “My Lord and my God.” It is in that acceptance that we find the reality of our baptismal promise to die to our sinful selves that we might also rise with Christ. Even as we profess those words we feel our nature altered, we grasp what it means to be a holy people, a Eucharistic people truly free of darkness.
Dying and rising - each night in sleep we understand the little death, putting behind us a day filled with striving to follow the example of God’s Only Son. As we finally pray “May the all powerful Lord grant us a restful night and a peaceful death” we do so anticipating our new rising either to face a new day of effort to be like the Lord or in the new resurrection promised to his faithful.
As we once more celebrate the gift of Didymus, St. Thomas who was first to understand that his teacher and Lord was true God, let us also celebrate the reality Jesus left us of his Body and Blood so that we to might gaze upon it and profess from our hearts “My Lord and my God.”
Pax
[1] The image used today is “Doubting Thomas” by Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri), 1623
[2] After Links to Readings Expire
Readings for Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Ephesians 2:19-22
In this passage, St. Paul describes the unity brought about among all believers in Christ. This unity is formed under a common teaching flowing from the Hebrew Prophets, through the Apostles to Christ himself who is described as the “capstone” or cornerstone. This unity of spirit becomes the Church – the “dwelling place for God in the Spirit.”
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 117:1bc, 2
R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
Using a refrain from St. Mark’s Gospel, the psalm is one of praise for the Good News of God’s salvation.
Gospel John 20:24-29
This story from St. John’s Gospel picks up just after Mary Magdalene has brought news to the disciples of the Risen Christ and he has appeared to them in the locked room. He (the Lord) has departed and now Thomas returns to find his friends speaking of Jesus’ return from the dead.
Thomas acquires his nickname by doubting what the other disciples tell him and persists until the Lord again comes to the locked upper room. To his credit, following the Lord’s own challenge St. Thomas applies the title “My Lord and my God”. It is the first time this title, reserved for God the Father, is given to the Son, proclaiming his divinity. The passage concludes with Jesus acknowledging the title but praising those not present who will believe in him without requiring physical proof.
Reflection:
Dying and rising – it is the promise and the reality of what Christ brings us. We see it in Christ, we see it in our selves, and we see it in all that is holy. It points us, the followers of Jesus who are so human and like St. Thomas and need the physical reality Christ to fully have faith in him, to what he left us, the Eucharist.
Dying and rising – in the Gospel we see the Lord rising, now showing us true God as well as true man. In rising we rejoice in the great promise of God who through His sacrifice offers us a means of unbounded happiness, free from sin. But first we must accept Jesus as St. Thomas does as “My Lord and my God.” It is in that acceptance that we find the reality of our baptismal promise to die to our sinful selves that we might also rise with Christ. Even as we profess those words we feel our nature altered, we grasp what it means to be a holy people, a Eucharistic people truly free of darkness.
Dying and rising - each night in sleep we understand the little death, putting behind us a day filled with striving to follow the example of God’s Only Son. As we finally pray “May the all powerful Lord grant us a restful night and a peaceful death” we do so anticipating our new rising either to face a new day of effort to be like the Lord or in the new resurrection promised to his faithful.
As we once more celebrate the gift of Didymus, St. Thomas who was first to understand that his teacher and Lord was true God, let us also celebrate the reality Jesus left us of his Body and Blood so that we to might gaze upon it and profess from our hearts “My Lord and my God.”
Pax
[1] The image used today is “Doubting Thomas” by Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri), 1623
[2] After Links to Readings Expire
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