July 3 2026 - Apostle St. Thomas - Blessed are those who have not seen, yet believe

 

Poor Saint Thomas the Apostle!  Whenever his name is heard, one tends to think of a skeptic, a doubter.  We even call people “doubting Thomas’s”. 

A homily of St. Gregory the Great has survived these many centuries in which St. Gregory considers the providence of God in this Gospel story.

“Dearly beloved,” he says, “what do you see in these events? Do you really believe that it was by chance that this chosen disciple was absent, then came and heard, heard and doubted, doubted and touched, touched and believed? It was not by chance but in God’s providence. In a marvelous way God’s mercy arranged that the disbelieving disciple, in touching the wounds of his master’s body, should heal our wounds of disbelief…. What follows is reason for great joy: Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed. There is here a particular reference to ourselves; we hold in our hearts one we have not seen in the flesh”.

In this Gospel account, we have much more than a cautionary tale about doubting. We shouldn’t doubt the divine truths of God, that’s true, of course. But, this story is included in the Scriptures, so that we can be emboldened in faith—to recognize that there is a blessedness in believing in the Resurrection even though we were not eyewitnesses to it.

As Thomas placed his hands into the wounds of the resurrected Christ, we too can do so, through faith. In our daily prayer, whenever we’d like, we can close our eyes, and consider this scene. We can imagine ourselves in the place of Thomas, the Lord entering into our midst and saying peace be with you. We can imagine the Lord inviting us “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side”.

And then we can open our eyes, and see with the eyes of faith, the Lord in the Eucharist: the one crucified and risen, who gives himself to us, to not only adore from a distance, but to receive into our bodies and souls.

There is an old custom, that when the consecrated host and consecrated chalice are raised up at mass, the faithful would repeat silently to themselves the words of Thomas, “My Lord and My God”, certainly words we do well to repeat whenever we have the chance to glimpse the Lord in the monstrance as well.

There is a blessedness to living in this age of the Church, this age of faith. And we have been chosen by God to live by faith. We grow in blessedness—in sanctity—as we walk by faith, not by sight—faith, that God is truly with us in the sacraments, and in the crosses and challenges of life, in the joys and sorrows, successes and failures, in our health and brokenness. May we celebrate our faith, draw strength from it, and share it generously to all the nations, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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For the Church throughout the world: that she may faithfully proclaim the Resurrection of Christ and strengthen all people to believe in him, though they have not seen. Let us pray to the Lord.

For a healing of schism in the church, for those who struggle with doubt, discouragement, or weakness of faith: that the mercy of Christ may heal their wounds and lead them to deeper trust in his love. Let us pray to the Lord.

For missionaries and all who share the Gospel: that the faith handed down from the apostles may be proclaimed generously to all nations. Let us pray to the Lord.

We pray in a special way for our nation on the occasion of our semi quincentennial, that our nation may be united by God’s Spirit, guarded from terror, observant of God’s Holy Laws, and vigilant against threats to our freedom, peace, and well-being. May the Wisdom of God guide our government leaders and legislators, our families, businesses, civil institutions, and all of our domestic affairs. Let us pray to the Lord.

For all who suffer in body, mind, or spirit: that they may find peace and strength in the wounds of the crucified and risen Lord. Let us pray to the Lord.

For the faithful departed: that they may behold face to face the Lord whom they believed in and loved on earth. Let us pray to the Lord.

O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all devotion, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain. Through Christ our Lord.

 

 

 

July 3 2024 - St. Thomas the Apostle - Doubt and Faith

 Doubt. For his moment of incredulity, St. Thomas is associated with doubt. Is doubt good or bad? Well, that depends. 

Doubt can sometimes be a very good thing.  If we believed every advertisement, every swindler and snake oil salesman, and scam artist, we would be broke. If we believed every new age guru, self-help expert, alien abductee, we’d be drawn away from the truth of Christ. If we believed everything we heard, every exaggerating politician or family member, then our mind would be filled with so many contradictory ideas, we wouldn’t be able to function.  In an era of fake news, Artificial Intelligence created deep-fakes, and internet scams, doubt can be a very good thing.

Our justice system requires us to doubt a person’s guilt; we are to presume innocence unless it can be disproven beyond a reasonable doubt. Scripture even tells us to be on guard against false prophets, wolves in sheep’s clothing, and those who only tell us what we want to hear.

On the other hand, Scripture condemns the sort of doubt that undermines our faith in God.

The letter of James says, “the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind”. When St. Peter began to sink after walking toward Jesus on the water, the Lord says, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt” St. Paul writes to the Romans, “But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.”

Doubt which preserves us from being duped and swindled and taken advantage of—that’s the good sort of doubt; and then there is the sinful doubt which keeps us from putting our faith in God, that’s the bad kind of doubt.

But notice, in his alleged doubt, Thomas possesses an openness to the truth. “If I can see his wounds, I will believe.” 

The catechism differentiates between voluntary and involuntary doubt. One is sinful, one is not. Catechism says, Voluntary doubt about the faith disregards or refuses to hold as true what God has revealed and the Church proposes for belief. Involuntary doubt refers to hesitation in believing, difficulty in overcoming objections connected with the faith, or also anxiety aroused by its obscurity. If deliberately cultivated, doubt can lead to spiritual blindness (CCC 2088).

Voluntary doubt about matters of faith is truly dangerous. It is a violation of the first commandment which “requires us to nourish and protect our faith with prudence and vigilance, and to reject everything that is opposed to it” (CCC 2088). It is a sin against faith. In the face of involuntary doubt, we, like Apostle Thomas, need to seek the Truth, to be open to the Truth, and when Truth is made known, we are to change our life accordingly. 

And St. Thomas did that, to a heroic degree. After Pentecost, he marched across the known earth, preaching the Good News to the Persians and Medes, until he reached India, where he evangelized and was eventually martyred in 72 A.D. by those who refused to believe.

May we who have come to believe through the testimony of the apostles, through the intercession of St. Thomas, come to that blessedness promised by our Lord, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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For the Church, that like St. Thomas, we may boldly proclaim our faith in the risen Christ. Let us pray to the Lord.

For those struggling with doubt, that through the example of St. Thomas, they may find renewed faith and trust in God. Let us pray to the Lord.

For missionaries around the world, inspired by St. Thomas's journey to India, that they may courageously share the Gospel. Let us pray to the Lord.

For architects and builders, under the patronage of St. Thomas, that their work may glorify God and serve humanity. Let us pray to the Lord.

For unity among Christians, that we may heal divisions and work together to build up the Body of Christ. Let us pray to the Lord.

For our community, that we may grow in faith and be willing to touch the wounds of Christ in those who suffer. Let us pray to the Lord.

For the sick, the impoverished, the lonely, those suffering from mental illness, those most in need, and those near death: may God, through the loving mercy of the Precious Blood of Jesus, be close to them in their trials.

And that all those redeemed by the Precious Blood of Jesus may come to the glory of heaven, especially X for whom this mass is offered.

Gracious Father, hear our prayers, through the intercession of St. Thomas the Apostle, grant us what we truly need to strengthen our faith, deepen our trust, and open our eyes to Your presence among us. Make us your servants to the ends of the earth, through Christ our Lord.

July 2020 - First Friday Holy Hour - "My Lord and My God"

Prior to the second Vatican Council, it was quite common during the celebration of Mass, when the priest elevated the consecrated host, for the laity to whisper the words of St. Thomas in the Gospel today: “My Lord and My God” and perhaps too, to strike their breast penitentially. Though his heart was initially full of doubt, the Apostle Thomas’ doubt was transformed into faith—faith that the Lord Jesus was Risen from the dead and was truly present. So how fitting that the faithful developed this pious custom of echoing Thomas’ words of faith in the real presence of Christ: “My Lord and My God.”

This practice was so praiseworthy, that Pope St. Pius X, in 1907 issued a decree granting a partial indulgence if a person looked at the Body and Blood of Christ and said “My Lord and My God.” Perhaps, this custom ought to be rediscovered in this 21st century when faith in the real presence seems to be lacking, even among many mass going Catholics.

Another St. Thomas, 1200 years later wrote that while our physical senses of sight, taste, touch and smell, fail to detect the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, our faith surely enables us to recognize his presence. Præstet fides supplementum Sensuum defectui…Let faith provide a supplement For the failure of the senses.

The beautiful prayer after Communion for mass on this Feast of Thomas the Apostle, too, gives such a beautiful summary of Eucharistic faith. Listen closely to this prayer: “O God, as we truly receive in this Sacrament the Body of your Only Begotten Son, grant, we pray, that we may recognize him with the Apostle Thomas by faith as our Lord and our God and proclaim him by our deeds and by our life.”

Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed. The Lord pronounces his blessing upon those who come before the Eucharist and believe that he is truly present. The promise of blessedness in this life and the next is offered to those who believe in the presence of Christ and allow that belief to shape their life.

This evening we come before our Eucharistic Lord to acknowledge that He is the source of all blessing. On this eve of our nation’s independence we beseech the Lord for all the graces we need in order to be a righteous nation, praying for conversion for all those who do not believe, praying for the grace to proclaim him by our deeds and by our life. Following our normal prayers of reparation, we will offer together the prayers of petition composed for the inauguration of President George Washington by Archbishop John Carroll, First Roman Catholic bishop in our country whose brother Charles Carroll was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

May the Lord bless all who believe and bring about the conversion of all who do not, may he bless us with ever deeper Eucharistic faith and the grace to proclaim that faith in our deeds and by our life, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

July 3 2020 - St. Thomas the Apostle - Suspension of Doubt

Poor Saint Thomas the Apostle!  Whenever his name is heard, one tends to think of a skeptic, a doubter.  We even call people “doubting Thomas’s”.  Maybe that makes him relatable. His doubt came after the experience of Good Friday, after seeing His Master crucified. It appeared that evil had been victorious. It appeared to his senses that death had won.

Many Christians throughout the centuries, looking around and seeing the powers of death, destruction, and division, have at least for brief moments, been overcome with doubt. Doubt giving rise to the question, “how could God allow this”, “where is God in all this?” “why doesn’t God put an end to all this suffering?”

Many atheists look to the Church and kind of scoff at our claim that God is real, God is love, Jesus Christ is victorious over the powers of death, much like Thomas kind of scoffed at the claim that Jesus was risen and that he appeared to them. “Show me” Thomas said.

Now after all, the witness of the apostles locked in the upper room, wasn’t quite that credible. After all, they were still locked in the upper room out of fear. They weren’t out in the streets proclaiming. They weren’t out in the world spreading the Gospel. They weren’t yet filled with that animating Spirit.

Had Thomas encountered this group after Pentecost and seen their conviction and courage and fire, perhaps he would not have doubted.

You may see where I am going with this. The Church is to be that credible witness that Thomas longed for in his moment of doubt. You and I are to be that credible witness the atheist sees in the world and perhaps begins to doubt his own doubt, question his assumptions. The Christian animated with the fire of the Spirit is to cause the doubters in the world to consider for a moment, maybe what they say is true, after all, look at their life, where in fact does that fervor come from, the fervor which I am lacking in my own life.

Sure many people are driven, there are driven by anger, impatience, and greed or even a sense to fight injustice, the desire for justice is a natural desire after all. But Christians out in the world, performing righteous deeds, preaching and standing for truth, clothing the naked and instructing the ignorant, we are to be that credible witness which gives rise to the suspension of doubt in the good God, that amidst all the evil and suffering in the world, Christ is Risen and He is victorious for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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Since we will not have Mass tomorrow, you will use today the beautiful petitions composed for the inauguration of President George Washington by Archbishop John Carroll, First Roman Catholic bishop in our country whose brother Charles Carroll was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

We pray Thee, O God of might, wisdom, and justice! Through Whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with Thy holy spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of the United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Thy people over whom he presides; by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality. We pray to the Lord.

Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government, so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge; and may perpetuate to us the blessing of equal liberty. We pray to the Lord.

We pray for all judges, magistrates, and other officers who are appointed to guard our political welfare, that they maybe enabled, by Thy powerful protection, to discharge the duties of their respective stations with honesty and ability. We pray to the Lord.

We recommend likewise, to Thy unbounded mercy, all our brethren and fellow citizens throughout the United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge and sanctified in the observance of Thy most holy law; that they may be preserved in union, and in that peace which the world cannot give; and after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal. We pray to the Lord.
And we pray especially for all of our countrymen who have gone before us in faith, for all those who have fought and died for our country’s freedom, for all the of the deceased members of our family and friends, and for Ruth & Charles Cramer, for whom this Mass is offered.  We pray to the Lord.

July 3 2019 - St. Thomas the Apostle - Freedom from doubt

On this eve of our nation’s Independence Day, we celebrate the feast of the apostle Thomas. Thomas in a sense is a model for freedom, ultimate freedom. For where doubt once dominated, faith granted freedom.

What was it that allowed Thomas to become free from his doubts? The encounter with the risen Jesus Christ.

Earlier in the Gospel, Thomas expressed his willingness to follow the Lord unto death. When Jesus heard of the death of Lazarus, he exhorted his apostles to follow him to Bethany, which would bring them dangerously close to Jerusalem.  On that occasion Thomas said to his fellow disciples: “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Yet, where was he when the Lord climbed the hill of Calvary? The cross certainly filled Thomas with doubt. The news of Jesus’ death caused doubt to dominate. But that encounter with the risen Christ brought Thomas a new freedom and a new faith. As he touched the nail marks of the risen Christ he was freed.

Accounts from the 3rd century tell of Thomas’ apostolic and missionary works in hat is modern day Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and of course his missionary activity led him to India where he was martyred when he crossed the Indian King.

Freedom, discovered through the divine encounter, impelled him to preach the Gospel that all men might be free.

Thomas is a model for us, to endeavor to open our minds and hearts to the divine encounter, in prayer and in the sacraments. And having encounter Christ in our prayer, in our reception of his body and blood in the eucharist, in the mercy of the confessional, we are freed from our own fears and doubts to go and proclaim the Gospel in our words and deeds.

May all those who lack faith, through the prayerful intercession of the Apostle Thomas come to a life-changing encounter with Christ, and may he help us all to be free from all that keeps us from witnessing to Christ with zeal for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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Since we will not have Mass tomorrow, you will use today the beautiful petitions composed for the inauguration of President George Washington by Archbishop John Carroll, First Roman Catholic bishop in our country whose brother Charles Carroll was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

We pray Thee, O God of might, wisdom, and justice! Through Whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with Thy holy spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of the United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Thy people over whom he presides; by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality. We pray to the Lord.
Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government, so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge; and may perpetuate to us the blessing of equal liberty. We pray to the Lord.

We pray for all judges, magistrates, and other officers who are appointed to guard our political welfare, that they maybe enabled, by Thy powerful protection, to discharge the duties of their respective stations with honesty and ability. We pray to the Lord.

We recommend likewise, to Thy unbounded mercy, all our brethren and fellow citizens throughout the United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge and sanctified in the observance of Thy most holy law; that they may be preserved in union, and in that peace which the world cannot give; and after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal. We pray to the Lord.
And we pray especially for all of our countrymen who have gone before us in faith, for all those who have fought and died for our country’s freedom, for all the of the deceased members of our family and friends, and for N., for whom this Mass is offered.  We pray to the Lord.

2nd Sunday of Easter 2018 - "Men do not die for things they doubt.”

Happy Easter! He is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen! For much of the world, Easter is over. For Catholics, we are just warming up. Easter is celebrated over the course of a whole season of 50 days: from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday. We celebrated with particular solemnity over the first 8 days of the easter season, called the easter octave. So, if you attended weekday Mass this past week, we were singing the Gloria every day, and our scripture readings related some amazing events that took place after Jesus resurrected: His appearance to Mary Magdalene, Having breakfast with his apostles on the shore of the sea of Galilee, his appearance to his disciples on the road to Emmaus.

Why do we dwell upon the “Easter-event” for so long? For the same reason Jesus appeared over and over to his disciples before ascending to the Father: to strengthen their faith, their conviction, that he is truly risen. And it took a while for the apostles to really get it. Those first few appearances Jesus has to convince them that he’s not just a hallucination, he’s not a ghost. He’s really there in the flesh—resurrected flesh. He eats fish and bread with them on the seashore, he invites Thomas, as we heard in the Gospel today, to put his hand in Jesus’ side.

He does this so they would stop doubting and truly believe.

I know some of you have seen the new movie about the Apostle Paul out in theaters. It’s very good, I highly recommend it—a perfect way to spend a…snowy easter Sunday. It tells the story of the Apostle Paul in the last weeks of his life. He is imprisoned in Rome, awaiting his martyrdom. The emperor Nero has blamed the Christians for setting fire to the city, and so the small Christian community is facing persecution. Christians are forced into hiding, and those they capture are being put to death. They are covered in pitch and burned alive in the streets, they are arrested and sent to be torn apart by wild beasts in the Coliseum.

One of my favorite scenes, and this shouldn’t give too much away for those who haven’t seen it, is when this Roman prison guard is questioning Paul about his Christian faith. This Roman guard challenges Paul about the truth of the resurrection. Paul answers, “If Christ had not risen from the dead, then our preaching is useless, and so is our faith.” The Roman Guard responds, “So you have no doubts at all?” And with a steeled look, forged by the terrible suffering he has already endured for the Gospel, Paul answers, “Men do not die for things they doubt.” “Men do not die for things they doubt.”

St. Thomas in the Gospel today, for his moment of doubt, has for two thousand years been known as “Doubting Thomas.” But the Apostle Thomas is really a testament of the power of faith to transform doubt to apostolic zeal.

For, after this scene from the Gospel today, after he places his hands in the side of the Risen Lord Jesus, Thomas is transformed.

The scriptures record no further accounts of the apostle Thomas, but accounts from the early Church tell of Thomas’ apostolic and missionary activity in modern day Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan, sadly, places where Christianity has been virtually eliminated in recent years. Finally, Thomas brought the faith to western and Southern India where he was martyred.

“Men do not die for things they doubt.” Through God’s divine mercy, the encounter with the risen Lord transformed Thomas’ doubt into a blazing faith.

Blazing faith, apostolic zeal, is not just “up here”, it’s not something we profess for an hour on Sunday and forget by the time we hit the church parking lot.

St. John reminds us that “For the love of God is this, that we keep his commandments.” The commandments of the moral law, and the commandments of the new law, like the one Jesus issued on Holy Thursday: love one another, as I love you, and the mandate Jesus issues before his Ascension: go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Yes, each of us is inspired to say along with Thomas, Jesus, “you are my Lord and my God”, but like Thomas we must leave the upper room, to spread the faith, and to live that faith in our day-to-day lives.

St. Thomas the Apostle is a perfect example of this. Thomas, as we’ve said, carried the good news thousands of miles, to the middle east, and eventually to India. A pagan Indian King, upon meeting the apostle, was so impressed with his conviction and holiness that the King made Thomas a trusted advisor and his royal architect.  This is why Thomas the Apostle is the patron saint of architects.
Anyway, the king put at Thomas’ disposal the great wealth of his treasury for planning and building a new royal palace.  But Thomas donated the entire sum to the poor, telling the King, that this way he builds a greater palace in heaven.  For this Thomas was forgiven when the king’s dead brother appeared to the king and testified to the reality and glory of the heavenly palace.

Thomas was martyred, however, when he converted the king’s many wives to Christ and they insisted that marriage is between one man and one woman.

 “Men do not die for things they doubt.” St Thomas and the apostles, and countless martyrs whose names we will only discover in heaven, found the courage and willingness to follow Jesus anywhere, to speak Christian truth in front of kings and judges. They model the faith for us, showing us how the encounter with the Risen Christ changes us, and emboldens us for courageously living the moral life, generously engaging in Christian service, and zealously laying down our lives for the spread of the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our Easter celebrations, our to deepen our conviction that Christ the Lord is Risen, that this truth may permeate every dimension of our life for the glory of God and salvation of souls.