My Lord and my God

Sharing the first name of the Apostle mentioned in today’s Gospel has put me on the defensive against the “doubter” nomenclature assigned to Thomas.  I even have a whole homily built around the proposal that he didn’t really doubt the resurrection as much as the other Apostles who were still locked in the upper room even though they professed that the resurrection is real.  Why would they remain hidden if even death has been conquered? 

But the reality is that Thomas did question, did boldly confront the testimony of others and needed evidentiary proof for himself.  “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail-marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”  Like me, he could have been from the “Show-me” state. 

The challenge for me, and many of us I suppose is that we often want proof of God’s presence, His action in our lives.  “Do this for me and I will….”  Our prayers are littered with expectations that God will follow our desires, our wills, our plans and when this goes awry, we are frustrated, questioning, perhaps even doubting. 

St. Thomas stands as a reminder to us that God’s ways are not our ways and our faithful call is to follow God’s ways.  Sure, we can and should pray, for ourselves and for others.  Even in the face of unlikely events where faith is challenged and circumstances seem overwhelming.  It is especially important to pray at these moments to prevent the evil one from getting a hold upon our weakness.  But are we praying to rely on God, or upon our desires?

This is where the feast of Divine Mercy is so valuable.  When we are confronted by overwhelming odds, are we able to let go of our fears and prayerfully say, “Jesus, I trust in you,” allowing us to place it all in the hands of our Savior, the One who rose from the dead to promise us new life in His Love.  To trust in the only one who desires the supreme good for us in all things and confronts the fears of the world with consummate hope.  It is only in the divine mercy of our Lord are we able to echo the words of St. Thomas as he faces Christ, “My Lord and My God.”

Congratulations to those Confirmed

We celebrated on April 9 with Archbishop Rozanski the Sacrament of Confirmation with our young men and women presented for this sacrament.  May the Holy Spirit bring to completion the good work begun in these candidates.