Thursday, July 3, 2014

Feast of Saint Thomas, apostle

(Ephesians 2:19-22; John 20:24-29)

Mortimer Adler was the quintessential Jewish intellectual – prolific and deep.  He was a devotee of St. Thomas Aquinas, but for a long time resisted becoming a Christian.  He said that he did not have the gift of faith.  Finally, however, he submitted to what his mind was telling him.  He was baptized an Episcopalian and ultimately joined the Catholic Church.  He, like today’s saint, came to admit that he was mistaken.

For all the doubt he harbored, St. Thomas can be credited with a genuine change of heart.  He doesn’t have to express belief in Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.  Calling Jesus, “Lord” and “God” transcends acceptance of the other apostles’ testimony.  True, as the gospel passage testifies, he has the benefit of seeing the resurrected Jesus, but he gives up all pretension about having to touch Jesus’ wounds in order to believe.  Such a grossly physical act would nullify faith as it comprises empirical proof.

The story about Thomas indicates that the disciples of Jesus did ask themselves the question if they were seeing things.  They prove themselves not visionaries but practical men who were willing to die for what they saw and heard.  We too must act on our belief that Jesus has risen.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Feast of Saint Thomas, apostle

(Ephesians 2:19-22; John 20:24-29)

Mortimer Adler was the quintessential Jewish intellectual – prolific and deep. He was a devotee of St. Thomas Aquinas, but for a long time resisted becoming a Christian. He said that he did not have the gift of faith. Finally, however, he submitted to what his mind was telling him. He was baptized an Episcopalian and ultimately joined the Catholic Church. He, like today’s saint, came to admit that he was mistaken.

For all the doubt he harbored, St. Thomas can be credited with a genuine change of heart. He doesn’t have to express belief in Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. Calling Jesus, “Lord” and “God” transcends the acceptance of his associates’ testimony. True, as the gospel passage testifies, he has the benefit of seeing Jesus resurrected. Nevertheless, he gives up all pretension about having to touch Jesus’ wounds in order to believe. Such a grossly physical act would nullify faith as it comprises experimental proof.

The story about Thomas teaches us that the disciples of Jesus did ask themselves the question if they were “seeing things.” They prove themselves not visionaries but practical men who were willing to die for what they saw and heard. We too must act on our belief that Jesus has risen.

Homilettefor Monday, July 23, 2007

Monday, XVI Week of Ordinary Time

(Matthew 12)

Remember the best-seller, When Bad Things Happen to Good People? Recently two authors wrote a kind of sequel called, Why Good Things Happen to Good People. The new book, in the words of one of its authors, bioethicist Stephen Post, shows, “When we give of ourselves, especially if we start young, everything from life satisfaction to self-realization and physical health is significantly improved.”

That God helps those who love Him is a message that is slow to sink in. We tend to moan about the heat rather than shows thanks for the air-conditioning. But if good people are blessed, it is true also that God is not indifferent to, much less spiteful of, those who do not show Him much care. As Jesus says, “(God) makes his sun to rise on the bad and the good” (Matthew 5:45). Still, all of us -- bad and good -- continually seek additional proof, like the scribes and Pharisees in today’s gospel, of God’s love for us.

Despite signs a-plenty showing God’s love brought to us in Jesus Christ, there are additional reasons to accept him. Jesus himself indicates what one of these is when he mentions the Queen of the South. She came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, but as Jesus indicates, his wisdom is greater than Solomon’s. Many have testified to the integrity and clarity of Christian thought which always finds its basis in and its inspiration from the teachings of Jesus. In recent memory Mortimer Adler, a Jew of the highest intellectual caliber, converted to Catholicism after almost a lifetime of admiring Christian thought. Like Mr. Adler we too are wise to stop sitting on the fence and submit mind and heart to Jesus’ authority.