Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle
(Ephesians 2:19-22; John 20:24-29)
A story about St. Thomas Aquinas may assist in appreciating today’s
marvelous gospel passage. Fellow
students told Aquinas that there were pigs flying outside the window. Thomas went to the window to see what they
were talking about. When the students
laughed at his naivete, he declared. “I
would rather believe that pigs can fly than that my brothers would lie to me.” Unfortunately, Aquinas’ namesake was not so
trusting.
Thomas Didymus not only didn’t believe his fellow disciples,
he disregarded what Jesus taught and the evidence of the empty tomb. He might have remembered that Jesus told his
disciples he was going beforehand to find places for them in his Father’s
house. Although the empty tomb could not
prove Jesus’ resurrection, it does point in that direction. Thomas, however, prefers skepticism to
belief, even when it means breaking faith with his companions.
We should be more discreet.
We do not have to accept everything that people say, but we need not be readily
dismissive. Regarding such fundamental
truth such as Jesus’ Resurrection, we must not give way to saying with
materialists, “It is impossible.” Rather
we should consider the testimony of the event through the ages, what Jesus said
and did, and our own motives - both good and selfish – for believing. Doing so, we are likely to find solid ground for
believing and living in the new creation which the Resurrection heralds.
