Our good friend St. Thomas
always gets bad press the Sunday after Easter.
We are always focusing in on his doubts.
We often think that he was the only one who did not believe that the
Lord had risen from the dead. The fact is that most of the disciples doubted
the Lord’s resurrection until they experienced His presence. Only John appears
to have believed the Lord had risen before he ever encountered the Risen Lord[1].
When Jesus
appeared that day He came to the disciples in the same Upper Room where they had
celebrated the Passover the Thursday before. The door was locked. Why? Well,
easy: The disciples were afraid, frightened to be exact. Jesus had just been
killed; would the same thing happen to them? In their fear, they began doubting
the Lord. Maybe He was just a wonderful,
powerful prophet, but nothing more. And then He appeared to them. That’s when
they realized that this was more than just a new message, a new prophecy. Jesus
Himself was the message. He was the Son of God. His Gospel had power, the Power
of God.
Thomas was not
there. He doubted the other disciples’ story. He even doubted the word of the
Lord, who had said He’d rise again. When he saw Jesus, Thomas’ reaction was the
same of the other disciples, best expressed in his statement, my Lord and My God[2].
Jesus Christ is Lord and God. There is
no need to be afraid.
This is true
also for us. We are often afraid. This is normal, part of our human condition. Beneath
the fear there is doubt. Will God really take care of me and my family? Does He
really care? Does He really exist?
We go through
periods of joy and periods of stress. We are confronted with death, sickness,
unemployment, actions of others that disappoint us, and our own actions that
upset us. There is stress in relationships.
And we wonder about God. “Where is He?” we ask. And, yes, like Thomas
and the others, there are still times that we are afraid, that we question,
that we doubt.
Our Loving Lord
knows and understands. He was one of
us. Jesus knows what it is like to be
afraid. He was afraid in the Garden of Olives.
He sweats blood. But He also trusted in the Power of His Father and our
Father and did not let these fears change His determination to do the will of
the Father. He sees us when we are
afraid. He understands. He also gives us the ability to get up from our fears
and do the right thing. This is Divine
Mercy Sunday. The rays that come from the heart of Jesus remind us of the
blood and water that came from His heart. The blood destroys the power that
evil has over us. The water revives us through baptism.
He sees, He knows, He understands. Yes, it is
human to be afraid. And it is human to
doubt. Perhaps we feel horrible for doubting Him. His mercy and compassion are stronger than
our doubts.
No matter what
we are facing in life today, or will face tomorrow, joy or challenge, we look
to Jesus; we remember His mercy and compassion, and we join Thomas in saying, my Lord and My God ■
