JOURNEY TO FAITH
With Thomas absent, Jesus’ disciples have had an unheard-of experience. As soon as they see Thomas arrive they communicate it full of joy: «We’ve seen the Lord». Thomas listens to them with skepticism. Why would he believe something so absurd? How could they say that they’ve seen Jesus full of life, if he has died crucified? When all is said and done, this is something else.
The disciples tell him that he has shown them the wounds of his hands and his side. Thomas can’t accept anyone’s testimony. He needs to prove it personally: «Unless I can see the holes that the nails made in his hands… and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe». He will only believe by experiencing it himself.
This disciple, who resists believing naively, is going to teach us the journey that is needed to be made for those to arrive at faith in the Risen Christ who haven’t seen Jesus’ face, or heard his words or felt his embrace.
Eight days later, Jesus comes again. Immediately he directs himself to Thomas. He doesn’t criticize his position. His doubts have nothing illegitimate or scandalous for him. His resistance to believe reveals his honesty. Jesus understands him and comes to encounter him by showing him his wounds.
Jesus offers to satisfy his demands: «Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side». Those wounds, before being «proofs» to verify something, aren’t they «signs» of his love that is given over even to death? That’s why Jesus invites him to go deeper than his doubts: «Do not be unbelieving anymore but believe».
Thomas gives up on verifying anything. He no longer feels the need for proofs. He is only experiencing the presence of the Teacher, who loves him, draws him near and invites him to trust. Thomas, the disciple who has made the longest and most burdensome journey than anyone else to encounter Jesus, arrives even further than anyone in the depth of his faith: «My Lord and my God». No one else has thus confessed Jesus.
We mustn’t be amazed when we feel doubts and questions arise within us. Doubts, lived out in a healthy way, rescue us from a superficial faith that is content with repeating formulas, without growing in trust and love. Doubts stimulate us to go all the way in our trust of God’s Mystery incarnate in Jesus.
Christian faith grows in us when we feel ourselves loved and attracted by that God whose face we can glimpse in the story that the Gospels give to us about Jesus. Therefore, his call to trust has more power within us than our own doubts. «Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe».
José Antonio Pagola
Translator: Fr. Jay VonHandorf
