Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle
Since today is the Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle, it is only to be expected that the Gospel reading would be the most famous story about him. As a result of this single passage, St. Thomas is most often remembered in popular culture as “Doubting Thomas,” the disciple who refused to believe that Christ had risen until he had touched His wounds himself. Yet St. Thomas is honored today as a missionary, as one who would proclaim the truth of the Resurrection to many others for the rest of his life.If we look first at the doubt for which he famous, some interesting thoughts present themselves. St. Thomas’ emphasis on proof can seem to make him a precursor of modern skepticism, because of the mutual insistence on “empirical evidence.” Yet, as most of us know in our own personal lives, empirical proof is not something we usually have in our relationships. Many of the things that we are told (and about which we hold the strongest convictions), such as “I forgive you” or “I am sorry” or “I love you,” can never be proven with “mathematical certainty.” Instead, we believe these things because we trust the people who say them. And their credibility is continually tested (and demonstrated) through the lives that those who profess these things lead. When seen this way, St. Thomas’ failure is not that he was unwilling to believe something seemingly impossible without sufficient proof. Instead, it was that he was unwilling to believe the testimony of those whom he should have trusted. He was unwilling to have faith in them and to allow them to demonstrate the credibility of their convictions to him.
Despite his popular reputation as a skeptic, St. Thomas the Apostle only held onto his doubt for a week and then (after experiencing the risen Jesus) he was a fervent believer and missionary for the rest of his life. Church tradition contains tales of St. Thomas the Apostle traveling to various countries as a missionary, most notably India and Iran, and eventually being martyred. One story even has him being the only apostle to witness the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (and having to convince the other apostles of what he saw). After his initial skepticism, St. Thomas’ himself soon became a demonstration of the Gospel’s truth that many different peoples found credible.
The other readings for today remind us of our own call to make our lives just such a demonstration. The First Reading reminds all of us that the Church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets (including St. Thomas) with Christ himself as the capstone (toward whom they are all directed). And so, since we are all related to each other, through Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit, we should constantly support and trust each other. The Responsorial Psalm, meanwhile, reminds us that we have a responsibility that goes beyond the visible Church, to “go out to all the world and tell the good news.”
In other words, on this Feast day, St. Thomas’ example should inspire us to proclaim the Gospel as he did, through both word and deed, to those who do not believe and to remember our close relationships to all those who already do believe. Like St. Thomas the Apostle, we too need to become living demonstrations of Gospel so that all people can become part of the household of God.
- Matthew G. Minix