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| “The Incredulity of Saint Thomas“ by Caravaggio, 1601-1602 |
Commentary:
Reading 1: Ephesians 2:19-22
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.
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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.
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.”[5] Using a responsorial refrain from St. Mark’s Gospel, the psalm is one of praise for the Good News of God’s salvation.
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Reading II: Hebrews 11:1-7
Commentary on Heb 11:1-7
The beginning of this reading gives us a classic definition of faith: “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” We note that this definition describes what faith does rather than a pure theological description. “Through faith God guarantees the blessings to be hoped for from him, providing evidence in the gift of faith that what he promises will eventually come to pass."[6] Looking at the translation above it is instructive to look at the same verse as translated in the Jerusalem Bible: “Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of the realities that at present remain unseen.”
The author goes on to applaud the faith of Old Testament figures. “The 'Praise of the Ancestors,' in Sirach 44:1-50:21, gives a similar list of heroes. The Cain and Abel narrative in Genesis 4:1-16 does not mention Abel's faith. It says, however, that God 'looked with favor on Abel and his offering' (Genesis 4, 4); in view of v 6 the author probably understood God's favor to have been activated by Abel's faith. Though dead, he still speaks, possibly because his blood 'cries out to me from the soil' (Genesis 4:10), but more probably a way of saying that the repeated story of Abel provides ongoing witness to faith.”[7]
A major point of this selection is that Christians must believe, not only that God exists, but that he wants behavior from them consistent with his decrees. To fail in this is a denial of truth, defined in the Hebrew Scriptures as folly (see Psalm 53).
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Gospel: John 20:24-29
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.
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Homily:
On July 12, 1835, or 181 years ago, about a block west of here, 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 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 him 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 fifteen 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: Monday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
[1] The picture is “The Incredulity of Saint Thomas“ by Caravaggio, 1601-1602
[3] On Sunday, the second reading from Hebrews is added.
[4] 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 re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[5] See NAB footnote on Psalm 117
[6] See NAB footnote on Hebrews 11:1-40
[7] See NAB footnote on Hebrews 11:4
