Gospel Reflection For The 3rd day of July in the year of Our Lord, 2025
Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle
John 20:24-29
24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, who is called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said to him: We have seen the Lord. But he said to them: Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.
26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said: Peace be to you. 27 Then he saith to Thomas: Put in thy finger hither, and see my hands; and bring hither thy hand, and put it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing. 28 Thomas answered, and said to him: My Lord, and my God. 29 Jesus saith to him: Because thou hast seen me, Thomas, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed.
Saint Thomas' reaction to the news of the resurrection was very reasonable. Thomas seems to have been a logical man, and has even been called the father of forensic science. To the human mind, the resurrection is impossible. The other Apostles were telling Thomas something that was physically impossible. We may wonder why, after witnessing the many miracles of Jesus, Saint Thomas had difficulty believing. But, he had just witnessed the same Jesus crucified, terribly tortured and killed. Surely, if Jesus was God, He could have helped Himself as the Jews said. Thomas did not yet understand our Lord's willing sacrifice. Very likely, he was overwhelmed with grief and feeling as if the Savior he had followed and believed in was false. Even if he reacted angrily to news of the resurrection, that would be understandable – he had every reason to believe that his friends had lied to him.
Surely, we have all been in a similar position. We believe in God and all of His promises. With absolute faith we pray for something very important. Often we pray for the healing of a loved one or perhaps something of equal or greater magnitude. Seemingly, our prayers go unanswered and our natural human reaction is that our faith is shaken. Many walk away from the Church and stop praying when this happens. But, we must remember that God will only answer our prayers if they are accord with His will. God knows what is best, especially when our limited human understanding prevents us from seeing it. We do not know why God calls home His loved ones when He does. We do know that He who suffered so for us also says that personal suffering is necessary for our salvation. Many times we wonder why God does not intervene to prevent wars and other horrors, but to do so would be to interfere with the free will of man. Much is beyond our understanding.
Is the Eucharist harder to believe than the resurrection? Surely, the God who made all and who could rise from the dead may allow physical bread and wine to be transformed into His spiritual body and blood if he chooses so to do. Yet, many Catholics and all Protestants deny the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist. These Christians, by definition, believe in the resurrection of Jesus but limit His power by their own lack of understanding. The consecrated Eucharist is truly God. We know this because God said it, and God being the author of truth cannot lie. But, we cannot understand it any more than Saint Thomas could understand the resurrection. We must believe it because we have faith in our Lord who said, “blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed.”
Judson Carroll is the author of several books, including his newest, A Daily Catholic Devotional, Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings July-December, 2025 It is Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F5BHFZ7X
and
Confirmation, an Autobiography of Faith. It is also Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47Q1JNK
His podcast is The Uncensored Catholic https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-uncensored-catholic
Beautifully said!