Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle

Biographical Information about St. Thomas the Apostle

“Saint Thomas“
by Caravaggio, 1601-02

 
Readings for the Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
 
Reading 1: Ephesians 2:19-22
 
Brothers and sisters:
You are no longer strangers and sojourners,
but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones
and members of the household of God,
built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets,
with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.
Through him the whole structure is held together
and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord;
in him you also are being built together
into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
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Commentary on Eph 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.” The Church, in turn, is the unity of all Christians, those who were formerly Jews, and those who were formerly Gentiles. They are, says the apostle, joined through Christ on the same road to the Kingdom of God. They share the same foundation of faith, transmitted to them through the apostles, and held firm by Christ the “capstone.” Together they form the “Temple of the Spirit,” the essential understanding that the Church is the Mystical Body of Christ.
 
CCC: Eph 2:19-22 756; Eph 2:20 857; Eph 2:21 797
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 117:1bc, 2
 
R. (Mark 16:15) Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
 
Praise the LORD, all you nations;
glorify him, all you peoples!
R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
 
For steadfast is his kindness for us,
and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.
R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
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Commentary on Ps 117:1bc, 2
 
“This shortest of hymns calls on the nations to acknowledge God's supremacy. The supremacy of Israel's God has been demonstrated to them by the people's secure existence, which is owed entirely to God's gracious fidelity.” [4] Using a refrain from St. Mark’s Gospel, the psalm is one of praise for the Good News of God’s salvation.
 
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Gospel: John 20:24-29
 
Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve,
was not with them when Jesus came.
So the other disciples said to him, "We have seen the Lord."
But Thomas said to them,
"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."
Now a week later his disciples were again inside
and Thomas was with them.
 
Jesus came, although the doors were locked,
and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you."
Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands,
and bring your hand and put it into my side,
and do not be unbelieving, but believe."
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."
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Commentary on Jn 20:24-29
 
This story from St. John’s Gospel is set just after Mary Magdalene has brought news to the disciples of the Risen Christ, and his appearance 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 ("Doubting Thomas") by doubting what the other disciples tell him, and he persists in doing so until the Lord again comes to the locked upper room. To his credit, following the Lord’s own challenge, St. Thomas applies to Jesus 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.
 
CCC: Jn 20:24-27 644; Jn 20:26 645, 659; Jn 20:27 645; Jn 20:28 448
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Reflection:
 
On July 12, 1835, or 190 years ago, about a block west of the current Kingsly St. location in Ann Arbor, Father Patrick O’Kelly celebrated the first Mass for the small Irish Catholic faith community in Ann Arbor that would become St. Thomas the Apostle Church.  Sixty-four years later, in 1899, this building was dedicated when Bishop Foley from Detroit started with this prayer:
 
O Lord God, who although the heavens and earth cannot contain Thee, are pleased to have Thy dwelling on earth, in which Thy name may be perpetually invoked; we beseech Thee, by the merits of the Blessed Mary, ever Virgin, of Thy apostle Saint Thomas, and all Thy Saints, visit this place with Thy benign clemency, and purify it by the infusion of Thy grace, from all defilement and preserve it undefiled; and O Thou who didst satisfy the devotion of Thy beloved David in the performance of his son Solomon, be pleased to hearken to our petitions and banish hence all spiritual wickedness. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
 
I was not able to find a record of what motivated our forefathers in faith to choose St. Thomas the Apostle as patron.  But we pray that the living tradition of faith which has been handed down to us is pleasing to our parish patron, whose feast we celebrate today.
 
From a scriptural perspective, not much is known about St. Thomas.  His name occurs in all the lists of the synoptics (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6, cf. Acts 1:13), but, as we heard, in St. John’s Gospel he plays a distinctive part.
 
First, when Jesus announced his intention of returning to Judea to visit Lazarus, Thomas who is called Didymus [the twin], thinking about the danger to Jesus in Judea, loyally said to his fellow disciples: "Let us also go to die with him” (John 11:16). (As a side note, Thomas is thought to have been called “the twin” because he strongly resembled Jesus, not because he was a twin.)
 
Again, it was St. Thomas who during the discourse before the Last Supper raised an objection: "Thomas said to him, ‘Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?’" (John 14:5).
 
But more especially St. Thomas is remembered for his incredulity, proclaimed on his feast, when the other apostles announced Christ's resurrection to him: "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." (John 20:25) But eight days later he made his act of faith professing “My Lord and my God.”  Even so, the Lord chided him saying: "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed." (John 20:29)
 
What does the scriptural record say about the faith of our patron?  He is continually saying more than he knows.  When he suggested that the disciples should go and die with Jesus in Judea, he could not have known that, in light of what was to happen, all Christians would die with Christ and rise with him at the resurrection.  He was the first to identify Christ as God in his profession of faith, even though he doubted, winning him the unfortunate nickname “doubting Thomas” that has followed him since.
 
We see in what is known of his later ministry that St. Thomas was not always in agreement with his brother apostles. According to tradition, when the apostles were planning their evangelistic directions, St. Thomas was selected to go to India.  He immediately objected, saying he could not go.  At this point, his master, Jesus, appeared in a supernatural way to Abban, the envoy of Gundafor, an Indian king, and sold Thomas to him to be his slave and serve Gundafor as a carpenter.
 
When he arrived in India, his apostolic zeal took over and he accomplished great works throughout the northern part of the continent.  He finally converted the wife and son of a local king who, again, according to tradition, had our patron executed by four of his soldiers who used spears to kill him.
 
How fortunate we are to have so human a patron.  His less-than-perfect faith allows us to identify with him.  As we heard in the Letter to the Hebrews: "Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.”  And faith is a gift from God, freely given but in different measures.  It is a very fortunate few who have not had doubts about God, his presence, and his promise. For many of us logic wars with faith, and we are forced to overcome our own disbelief, fighting to force a reluctant mind to embrace what we know in our hearts is true. Yes, we believe.  But do we all not wish we could have the Lord stand in front of us so that we could see the nail marks in his hands and put our hand into his side?
 
It is a great blessing for us to know that one as flawed as we are in faith could be loved so deeply by our Lord and Savior. Today we rejoice in God’s gift of St. Thomas.  He struggled to understand and in the end received the martyr’s crown; his faith ultimately saved him.  We consider those who have worshiped in this space for the past hundred and twenty-six years and think of all the prayers offered up, asking our patron to intercede on their behalf.  Today we add our prayers to theirs as we ask him to help our unbelief so that we, like him, might offer up the profession: “My Lord and my God.”
 
Pax
 
In other years on this date: Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
 

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[1] The picture is “Saint Thomas“ by Caravaggio, 1601-02.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] NAB footnote on Psalm 117.

Wednesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

“Expulsion of Hagar”
by Willem van Mieris, 1724

 
Readings for Wednesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary:[3]
 
Reading 1: Genesis 21:5, 8-20a
 
Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
Isaac grew, and on the day of the child's weaning
Abraham held a great feast.
 
Sarah noticed the son whom Hagar the Egyptian
had borne to Abraham
playing with her son Isaac;
so she demanded of Abraham:
"Drive out that slave and her son!
No son of that slave is going to share the inheritance
with my son Isaac!"
Abraham was greatly distressed,
especially on account of his son Ishmael.
But God said to Abraham: "Do not be distressed about the boy
or about your slave woman.
Heed the demands of Sarah, no matter what she is asking of you;
for it is through Isaac that descendants shall bear your name.
As for the son of the slave woman,
I will make a great nation of him also,
since he too is your offspring."
 
Early the next morning Abraham got some bread and a skin of water
and gave them to Hagar.
Then, placing the child on her back, he sent her away.
As she roamed aimlessly in the wilderness of Beer-sheba,
the water in the skin was used up.
So she put the child down under a shrub,
and then went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away;
for she said to herself, "Let me not watch to see the child die."
As she sat opposite Ishmael, he began to cry.
God heard the boy's cry,
and God's messenger called to Hagar from heaven:
"What is the matter, Hagar?
Don't be afraid; God has heard the boy's cry in this plight of his.
Arise, lift up the boy and hold him by the hand;
for I will make of him a great nation."
Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water.
She went and filled the skin with water, and then let the boy drink.
God was with the boy as he grew up.
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Commentary on Gn 21:5, 8-20a
 
The saga of Abraham (Abram) continues in this passage as he strives to follow God’s will. The birth of Isaac is announced and immediately tension arises. His wife Sarah (Sarai) has demanded that Hagar and Ishmael (firstborn of Abraham) be cast out of their family group. This is truly the beginning of the split in Abraham’s descendants, as the Jewish people would begin through his son Isaac, and the followers of Islam develop through his son Ishmael. The same God (whose Only Son is the Messiah) that favored the early Jewish people also shows his love for Hagar and Ishmael and their descendants.
 
"The scene of Hagar in the wilderness is itself an example of the mercy of God for, as St John Chrysostom teaches, 'whenever God wishes, even if we are utterly alone, even if we are in desperate trouble, even if we have no hope of survival, we need no other assistance, since God's grace is all we require. You see, if we win favor from him, no one will get the better of us, but rather we will prevail against anyone' (Homiliae in Genesim, 46, 2)." [4]
 
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 34:7-8, 10-11, 12-13
 
R. (7a) The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
 
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
 
Fear the LORD, you his holy ones,
for naught is lacking to those who fear him.
The great grow poor and hungry;
but those who seek the LORD want for no good thing.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
 
Come, children, hear me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
Which of you desires life,
and takes delight in prosperous days?
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
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Commentary on Ps 34:7-8, 10-11, 12-13
 
Psalm 34 is a hymn of thanksgiving.  In this selection, the singer rejoices in God’s love and compassion, especially for those in need (“the poor”).  God saves those who love him and shares in their delight during good times.
 
CCC: Ps 34:8 336
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Gospel: Matthew 8:28-34
 
When Jesus came to the territory of the Gadarenes,
two demoniacs who were coming from the tombs met him.
They were so savage that no one could travel by that road.
They cried out, "What have you to do with us, Son of God?
Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time?"
Some distance away a herd of many swine was feeding.
The demons pleaded with him,
"If you drive us out, send us into the herd of swine."
And he said to them, "Go then!"
They came out and entered the swine,
and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea
where they drowned.
The swineherds ran away,
and when they came to the town they reported everything,
including what had happened to the demoniacs.
Thereupon the whole town came out to meet Jesus,
and when they saw him they begged him to leave their district.
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Commentary on Mt 8:28-34
 
Jesus comes to a region about five miles southeast of the Sea of Galilee and encounters the two demoniacs (people taken over by demons). He drives the demons out into a herd of swine. The symbolism here for the Jewish audience would be powerful, as swine were unclean animals. By casting themselves into the sea, they showed that even they preferred death to the presence of evil. The Gentile population, probably very superstitious, was afraid of Christ’s power over evil and did not want any more damage as a result of his presence.
 
"Not only do the Demons confess Jesus’ identity as Son of God; they go on to reveal their vision of his appointed function as Messiah, who in the end will judge all spiritual beings. The spirit of evil can lie to everyone but God himself. Truth spouts from these filthy mouths as a parody of praise. But the disciples stand by as beneficiaries of the encounter." [5]
 
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Reflection:
 
What is the difference between physical love (eros) and love (agape), the highest and purest form of love? The story of Sarah and Hagar from Genesis answers this question.  It is also a tremendous lesson in moral theology.  In her rush to give Abraham the heir he needed for his prosperity to be handed down, Sarah brought Hagar, her servant, to Abraham to be a surrogate.  In this action, we see Abraham performing the physical act of love (eros) with Hagar.  Through this action, Hagar’s dignity as a person was not considered.  She was seen by Sarah, and indeed by Abraham, as merely the vessel for an heir.
 
Having been thus demeaned and having produced the desired son for Abraham in Ishmael, we see the natural enmity arise between Sarah and Hagar.  Hagar for her part loved Ishmael.  Ignoring the circumstances of his conception, she saw Abraham’s fortune passing to Ishmael, as his son and heir.  Then the unthinkable happened, Sarah became pregnant in her advanced years, and bore a son, Isaac.  This event essentially took away any rights that Ishmael could claim on Abraham’s heritage.  We can understand the feelings (jealousy, hate, resentment) between the two women, as complex as they were.
 
We see something else in this story as well.  As favored as Abraham is in the eyes of God, the Lord loves (agape) Ishmael and Hagar without prejudice.  The promise of salvation is given them as well as Abraham, Isaac, and Sarah.  In God’s eyes, they are all precious to him.
 
Within the context of human relationships, we can see a clear example of what happens when the wrong thing is done for what is considered to be a noble purpose.  In this case, Sarah loved (agape) her husband and felt she had somehow displeased God.  Since Abraham was clearly beloved by God and had been promised a multitude of descendants, and since she was barren of children, it must be that God disapproved of her.  With this thought she presented her servant to her husband to be the means of God’s promised continuation of life.  She did so without thinking that this action would constitute any infidelity on the part of Abraham.  She also did not consider that this action would violate the dignity of her servant.
 
Even if Hagar considered this order from her mistress a reasonable one, the action violated her human dignity.  Even though the resultant life in Ishmael was precious to God, the means of begetting that life were ignoble at best.  The end result is obvious to us now.  God’s promise was fulfilled in Ishmael as well as Isaac.  God’s prediction was also fulfilled, that there would be enmity between Ishmael and his descendants and those of Isaac.
 
We see the pain that can arise from doing the wrong thing for the right reasons in this story, and pray for the wisdom to hear and apply this knowledge in our own actions.  We see also that God loves all his people, and hope that our own hearts will respond to that love in the same way.
 
Pax

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[1] The picture is “Expulsion of Hagar” by Willem van Mieris, 1724.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] The Navarre Bible: “Pentateuch”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, p. 116.
[5] Leiva-Merikakis, Erasmo. Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word: Meditations on the Gospel According to St. Matthew (p. 472). Ignatius Press. Kindle Edition.