Feast of Saint
Thomas, apostle
(Ephesians 2:19-22; John 20:24-29)
A debate in the philosophy of science centers on the
question of the existence of spiritual being.
Some philosophers hold that matter is all that there is. They try to reduce the mind to the material
functions of the brain. More classical
thinkers respond saying that the elements of matter cannot account for the intricate
capacity of thought. They understand the
mind as a spiritual substance dependent upon matter for its formation but having
a reality apart from it. In today’
gospel St. Thomas seems to be a materialist until he meets the risen Lord.
When Thomas is told that the other disciples have seen Christ
after he was crucified, he demands to touch Jesus’ body before accepting the
fact of his resurrection. Jesus gives
him the opportunity to do it, but does Thomas actually go ahead with the
experiment? The Scripture does not say
so; in fact, it indicates that he does not. Jesus says that Thomas believes only
with seeing as the other disciples.
The passage ends with Jesus giving later Christians a
blessing for believing in the resurrection without ever seeing him. Because our times challenge such belief, we want
to support one another in the faith of the resurrection.
