Doubting Thomas

SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER (A)
Jn. 20: 19-31

In the age when faith is becoming more difficult and mystery is on the way out, the church puts before us the deeply moving encounter between Christ and Thomas, his doubting disciple. We make a big mistake if we dismiss Thomas as a man of little faith. Who could really blame him or not accepting the disciples’ story about the risen Christ without a single shred of evidence? After what happened on Good Friday, it was asking too much of his type of personality. Thomas had seen the Lord, whom he loved deeply, die the death of a criminal, crucified between two thieves and a few hours earlier he had witnessed Peter promise fidelity to Jesus and then deny him three times. He was hardhearted in his questioning and unwilling to accept the word of others. The episode paints, in dramatic fashion, the journey of many people from a position of total disbelief to one of absolute faith. Having doubts in our search for truth is nothing to be ashamed of and can actually turn out to be a growing point in the life of faith. Thomas was doubtful about the key issues of whether Jesus had risen from the dead and was actually alive. Therein lies the heart of our whole believing. Thomas with his intelligent questioning and his need for satisfactory answers is a good type of person to have in any community, and acts as a defense against the excesses of pious belief. In many ways he echoes moments of our own uncertainty, when we question the religious values handed down to us.

During life, faith is an on-going struggle and there are moments of crisis when our minds are darkened and our vision of God is blurred by clouds of doubt. There is nothing comfortable about believing as it challenges us to change our lives as a result of our encounter with Jesus. The risen Christ is present in our midst as much as he was with the early Christians and we are called to live our lives in his name. it is through believing that we enter into a relationship with Christ and enjoy the new life which he offers us.

Faith is our meeting with God and there will come moments in life when all else fails and we have nothing to fall back on except our faith: Lord, help us all. ‘I believe, help thou my unbelief.’