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. 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 the resurrected
one. Because our times challenge such
belief, we have to support one another in the faith of the resurrection. Orthodox Christians do this by a ritual
statement and response. “Christ is
risen,” says the priest. “He is risen
indeed,” answer the people.
