May the Lord bless you with peace and health in the Holy Spirit.
It is 3rd July 2021. We celebrate the Feast of St Thomas the Apostle, the Apostle of India.
We reflect from Ephesians 2:19-22 and the Gospel from John 20:24-29.
Rivers of belief run deep in the desert of doubts.
Difficult conversations take us through to the truth in pain. We cannot experience truth without dealing emotions and prejudices.
Is faith a struggle or a jiggle? For most of us it is a struggle to believe when we do not see and feel something out there just like today’s saint St. Thomas, the Apostle. Faith for Him is not an act but action enveloped in commitment coated with total surrender.
Yes, we are bold to say that we believe yet we are afraid to say that we doubt,
When the disciples hesitated to go with Jesus when Lazarus died, Thomas boldly told, “Yes, let us also go to die with him” (Jn 11:16). During the Last Supper, during the farewell discourse, Thomas objected: “We do not know where you are going, how can we know the way?” (Jn 14:4, 5). In his absence, when all the disciples boasted seeing the Risen Lord, Thomas expressed his faith in the Risen Lord, “Unless I can see the holes that the nails made in his hands. . . and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe” (Jn 20:25). Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him: ‘You believe because you can see me. Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.’ (Jn.20:29).
Whenever we express our challenges in believing sincerely, the Lord helps us to believe. Jesus will never hate us for doubting Him, His Presence and God’s Providence. We feel left out from the experience of Truth, when we are far from home, and community constantly. We all can grow and mature in faith when we are able to surrender to Jesus.
May we not afraid to doubt as we dare to believe. Have a lovely day. Wishing you all happy feast of St. Thomas. God bless you.