St. Thomas the Believer

 

2nd Sunday in Easter

 Cycle C

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/042725.cfm

Apr 26 & 27, 2025

St. Thomas the Believer

Last month, our second graders and their parents participated in a retreat to prepare themselves for their First Communion which they are just about to celebrate [will celebrate tomorrow].  At the end of a two-hour session, Fr. Bruno took the participants on a tour of the church.  We concluded in the sacristy—the room in the back where the priest gets ready. 

The retreat started to run past the allotted time, but at the conclusion, Fr. Bruno asked the second graders for final questions.  He was perhaps expecting something quick and easy.  One of the kids, named Ellie  had clearly been waiting for this.  She stuck her hand up eagerly and said, “I have two questions: first, why did God flood the earth? And second, why can’t women be priests?”  Fr. Bruno looked surprised and said, “those are very good questions, but will take longer to answer than we have time for today.  Let’s plan to talk more later.”

I checked in with Ellie two weeks ago to ask if I could tell this story and ask if her questions had been answered.  She said, she hadn’t talked to Fr. Bruno yet, but her list of questions had gotten longer.  

Today, in the Gospel readings, we remember and celebrate one of Jesus’ first followers who is famous for wanting more information, St. Thomas the Apostle who we unfairly call “Thomas the Doubter.”  Thomas was not with the other apostles when the resurrected Lord appeared to them.  When they told Thomas that Jesus had risen, he questioned how that could possibly be true.  He had witnessed Jesus’ agonizing death and burial and had seen his tomb sealed up. Like the other disciples, he felt a crushing disappointment and an ongoing fear of the Romans who had brutally ended their messianic dreams.  Surely the other ten had experienced some kind of hallucination or else they were playing a sick joke on him. Thomas had been willing to die with Jesus, but that was all over now.  Their leader was dead, and their movement had ended in failure.

Of course, unlike Thomas in that moment, we know that Jesus is risen.  But we may have the same questions that Thomas did.  How is Jesus’ resurrection possible?  How can I believe that death could ever be overcome, particularly when I have never seen a dead person brought back from the dead?  

These are good questions.  Some people imagine that being a Christian means having so-called “blind faith” and believing unquestioningly in the doctrines and dogmas of the Church.  In this view, having doubts undermines the truth of Jesus and threatens the Church.  Believe and don’t ask questions.  Don’t use your brain!    

This is the opposite of what the Catholic Church teaches.  Questioning and doubting leads to a deeper, richer, and stronger faith.  Our faith is strengthened through reason.  Our Creator and His creation can be known and understood by the human intellect.  We give glory to God by seeking to understand the world through science, art, literature, mathematics, philosophy, and every other field of human inquiry. This study compliments our faith rather than undercutting it.  

At the same time, there is a limit to how much we can know.  God surpasses our own understanding.  We see this in Jesus’ response to Thomas.  Jesus does not explain to Thomas precisely how the resurrection works.  Instead of a scientific report, Jesus gives himself in answer.  And invites Thomas to touch his body, saying, “do not be unbelieving but believe.”  

This is the same gift of his body that Jesus offers us in the Eucharist.  He does not say, “Take and understand,” but “Take and eat.” 

[2nd graders, you are about to receive this great gift of the Eucharist for the first time.  You have been preparing for months with your teachers and parents.  The Lord Jesus says to you today, “Take and eat. This is my Body and Blood.”  

It is exciting to receive the first time, but you know what’s better than First Communion?  Second Communion!  And third communion and 500th communion.  Each time we receive we enter a little bit more deeply into the mystery of Jesus made real in the bread and wine.  Receive and believe.  But continue to ask questions.  Theologians of the Church have dedicated their lives to expanding our understanding of the sacrament.]  

The great saint, Anselm of Canterbury, had the motto “Faith seeking Understanding.”  He prayed,

Lord teach me to seek you, and reveal yourself to me…

I long to understand in some degree your truth, which my heart believes and loves

For I do not seek to understand that I may believe,

But I believe in order to understand.  

With St. Thomas, we see the dynamic of doubt leading to greater belief.  Though he initially declares, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands …, I will not believe.”  Through his encounter with the Lord, he comes to a greater faith and a greater truth than anyone else in the Gospel. When he sees Jesus, he declares about him, “My Lord and My God!”  This is the only place in the Bible where anyone declares Jesus to be God so explicitly and so clearly.  Thomas’ questioning has brought him to a greater insight and a greater wisdom. 

The lesson for us today is, like Ellie and like St. Thomas, to keep asking questions.  To seek to understand what we believe.  But in the midst of our questions, to continue trust in the God who made you and loves you and offers himself to you.