June 29, 2012. Homily, Tuesday, July 3, 2012

John 20: 24-29


Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, "We have seen the Lord." but Thomas said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." Now a week later the disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe." Thomas answered and said to him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."
The Gospel of the Lord.


"Didymus" means "Twin". 


Thomas was the Apostle that went and preached in the State of Kerala in India.  The Catholic Church in India traces its origin to the preaching of St Thomas the Apostle, who, according to tradition, came to India in 52 A.D., nearly 2000 years ago, and who was martyred in Mylapore, where his tomb is venerated ever since.


The personality of this great figure, with his own characteristic traits, emerges in the Gospel of St John (Jn 11,16; 14,5; 20,24-29). Together with the other Apostles, he formed an intimate community with Jesus of Nazareth and shared all the joys and trials that accompanied him as he moved around the countryside to preach his message of love and unity. Thomas was an impulsive type of man, zealous in reaching out to others, not afraid to ask questions and seek clarifications when required, who battled with his own resistance and doubts surrounding the extraordinary events of Christ's death and resurrection in Jerusalem. He is the one who, touching Jesus' wounds after the resurrection, had all his doubts disappear and his faith moved to a new level. He simply believed, exclaiming from the depths of his heart: "my Lord and my God". It finally came home to him the full import of what had happened: Jesus Christ had risen from the dead, thus overcoming suffering and death and offering new hope for all humanity. A new era had begun.


Thomas understood his own mission as that of sharing this experience, as in the words of Jesus, "go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good news to all creation", that is, to proclaim the message and reality of God's unconditional love to all peoples, regardless of creed or colour, nationality or race. Each of the Apostles set out on the mission assigned them by the Lord: "you will be my witnesses, not only in Jerusalem, but throughout Judea and Samaria, and indeed to the ends of the earth"


St. Thomas the Apostle on Farmington Avenue in West Hartford was the name of the grammar school where I was a student from 4th through 8th grade. I was taught by the Ursuline Sisters.