Gospel (Jn 20:24-29)

Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”

Commentary

Today’s Gospel reading tells us that Thomas was not with the other Apostles when Jesus appeared to them for the first time on the same day of his resurrection. When Thomas returns, he refuses to believe the joyful testimony of those who were there: “We have seen the Lord.” Perhaps he attributes it to a subjective experience or a collective delirium. Thomas demands more than the Apostles’ testimony and asks for evident signs in order to believe and change his life.

The following Sunday, Jesus appeared to them again. “You too,” Saint Josemaria wrote, “may find yourself now hearing his gentle reproach to Thomas: ‘Let me have your finger; see, here are my hands. Let me have your hand; put it into my side. Cease your doubting, and believe;’ and, with the Apostle, a sincere cry of contrition will rise from your soul: ‘My Lord, and my God!’ I acknowledge you once and for all as the Master. From now on, with your help, I shall always treasure your teachings and I shall strive to follow them loyally.”^[1]

By contemplating this Gospel scene and “entering the mystery of God through the wounds,” Pope Francis said, “like Thomas, we no longer live as insecure and hesitant disciples, but we become true lovers of the Lord.”^[2]

We can also feel as addressed to ourselves the last beatitude that Jesus pronounced on earth, provoked by the distrust of Thomas: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”

Faith, trust in God, is a divine gift that we need to ask for with humility: Increase our faith! (cf. Lk 17:5). It is a gift that we need to put into practice with our daily deeds: “he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; if you ask anything in my name, I will do it” (Jn 14:12-14).

As Saint Josemaría said: “God is the same as always. It is men of faith that are needed: and then, there will be a renewal of the wonders we read of in the Gospel.”^[3]

^[1]Saint Josemaría, Friends of God, 145.

^[2] Pope Francis, Homily, Easter Sunday Mass 2018.

^[3] Saint Josemaría, The Way, 586.