Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle
Today, July 3rd, we celebrate the feast day of St. Thomas, the apostle. Most of us know him as Doubting Thomas. To me this nickname has always brought with it a little bit of disdain and disgrace – he’s the one who couldn’t just take the apostles at their word and believe them. He had to see for himself. Even Jesus makes him feel a little inept, with his comment, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed” (John 20:29). I wonder – if it weren’t for apostles like Thomas would I have the courage to believe?
As I reflect on Thomas and the role he plays in this Gospel reading, I wonder if instead of doubting or having little faith, Thomas was just being diligent. I think I may start referring to him as fact-checker Thomas instead of doubting Thomas. In our world today there are so many lies being told that we are taught to fact check everything. We are taught to check our sources. And then check our sources’ sources. We can not take anything at face value. Maybe this same prudence is where Thomas was coming from.
We hear in our first reading, that we are “members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets” (Ephesians 2:19). I for one think it was wise and prudent of Thomas to be absolutely sure that this resurrection was real. I think Thomas knew just how monumental and transformational the reality of Christ’s resurrection was and he needed to be doubly sure that this was real – not only for his sake but for the generations who would follow in this faith after him. On this feast day of St. Thomas I pray that we can learn to follow his example. May we be people of faith who trust in our Lord while still exercising prudence and diligence when engaging with the world around us. Amen.
—AJ Grimm