Saint Thomas, apostle - Feast
Commentary of the day
Saint Peter Chrysologus (c.406-450), Bishop of Ravenna, Doctor of the Church
Sermon 84 ; PL 52, 438
The testimony of Thomas
Why did Thomas seek proof for his faith in this way?... Your love, my brethren, would have preferred it if lack of faith had left no one in doubt after the resurrection. But Thomas bore the uncertainty not only of his own heart but of all people. And since he was to preach the resurrection to the gentiles he sought out, like a good workman, what he would base a mystery on that demands so much faith. And the Lord showed all the apostles what Thomas had sought so late. “Jesus came... and showed them his hands and his side” (Jn 20,19-20). The person who entered, in fact, when the doors were shut, might have been taken for a spirit by the disciples if he had not been able to show them that it was none other than he, the wounds being the mark of his Passion.
Then he came to Thomas and said to him:”Put your hand in my side and do not be unbelieving but believe. May the wounds you are opening once more make faith flow into the whole world, those wounds that have already poured out the water of baptism and the blood of redemption.” (Jn 19,34). Thomas replied: “My Lord and my God!” Let unbelievers come and hear and, as our Lord said, let them no longer be doubters but believers. Thomas makes known and declares that this is not just a human body but that, by the Passion of his body of flesh, Christ is God and Lord. He who comes out alive from death and who rises from his wounds is God indeed.
| Wednesday, July 03, 2013 St. Thomas, Apostle (Feast) |
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