OXYGEN

03 July - St Thomas, apostle

St. Thomas (died 72) was ready to die with Jesus when Christ went to Jerusalem, but he is best remembered for doubting the Resurrection until allowed to touch Christ’s wounds. He preached in Parthia, Persia and India, though he was so reluctant to start the mission that he had to be taken into slavery by a merchant headed that way. He eventually gave in to God’s will, was freed, and planted the new Church over a wide area. He formed many parishes and built many churches along the way.

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Ephesians 2:19-22

You are no longer aliens or foreign visitors: you are citizens like all the saints, and part of God’s household. You are part of a building that has the apostles and prophets for its foundations, and Christ Jesus himself for its main cornerstone. As every structure is aligned on him, all grow into one holy temple in the Lord; and you too, in him, are being built into a house where God lives, in the Spirit.

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John 20:24-29

Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. When the disciples said, ‘We have seen the Lord’, he answered, ‘Unless I see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.’ Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them. ‘Peace be with you’ he said. Then he spoke to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side. Doubt no longer but believe.’ Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and my God!’

Jesus said to him:

‘You believe because you can see me.
Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.’

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Doubt no longer but believe.

A Catholic friend of mine came up to me one day and revealed to me that she was doubting the priesthood. She had some bad experience with a priest and was starting to see the whole priesthood as a sham. She was also starting to think that the priesthood is not something that Jesus would have wanted in his Church.

When a fellow Catholic comes up to us and says that he or she has some doubts about the Church’s teaching, is this a bad thing? Our instinctive response is normally to give this person a hundred reasons why the Church teaches such a thing, and try to dispel his or her doubts. But is doubting such a bad thing? After all, St. Thomas is infamous for being “the apostle who doubted”.

Which of us has grown in our faith without having ever doubted what we believed in? I’ll wager to say that a person who has never doubted the authenticity of Jesus Christ doesn’t know the Lord as well as he or she is led to believe. Doubts are a natural part of growing in our faith, and we have the experience of St. Thomas to remember and to learn from. Let us also remember that after his doubts were removed by seeing and experiencing Jesus directly, he also went forth to proclaim the Good News as far as India.

(Today’s reflection by Daniel Tay)
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Prayer: We pray for all Catholics who are doubting the faith, that they may encounter the Lord and believe.

Thanksgiving: We give thanks to the Lord for those who have not seen and yet believe.

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Upcoming readings:
04 Jul, Fri - Amos 87:4-6, Matthew 9:9-13
05 Jul, Sat - Amos 9:11-15, Matthew 9:14-17
06 Jul, Sun - Zec 9:9-10, Romans 8:9. 11-13, Matthew 11:25-30 - Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
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