Our “Faith Quotient”

Tags

doubt, faith, John, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas the apostle

Today Christians celebrate the Apostle Thomas. It’s a comforting remembrance for me. When we think of the saints, the list includes theologians and martyrs and people of all manner of greatness. Thomas was one of “The Twelve,” those chosen members of the inner circle of Jesus, the ones who walked with him for the three years of his public ministry, saw the expressions of his power and the depth of his love for people—all kinds of people, especially the most needy. They listened to him preach and saw him go away by himself to pray. They were his closest companions and in the end, most of them died in the service of his mission.

Thomas stands out in one gospel passage. After all that they had experienced with him, they were nevertheless frightened after Christ’s resurrection (as I presume I would have been if I had been there) when he appeared in that “Upper Room” to let them know he was still with them. Thomas was missing from that visitation and therefore had to be told of the event. Clearly, Thomas could be seen as a concrete thinker, willing (able?) to believe only what he could see and hear and touch. And so he became, for all time, the one who is remembered as “doubting Thomas.” He wanted to see Jesus, touch him and feel his wounds to know he was truly the one who had companioned them.

We know the whole story concisely reported in John’s gospel (20: 24-29). I do not believe that Jesus came back to shame Thomas in the midst of his companions. It must have been very hard for Thomas but my hope is that the others were relieved for him, that having seen what he asked for, he could then believe what the others had already experienced. But it seems that this event is for us as well as for Thomas.

Christ asks Thomas a question which I’m sure caused Thomas a lot of deep reflection. (“Have you come to believe because you have seen me?”) Then we are addressed, we who have not seen the Lord “in the flesh.” It is not a question, but rather a hope, a promise—and likely for some a challenge. When you hear the words, “Blessed are those who have not seen yet have believed,” are you a “doubting Thomas” sometimes? Am I?

Seeing and Believing

Tags

belief, believe, doubt, Jesus, John, Messiah, resurrection, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas the apostle

Today is the feast of St. Thomas the Apostle. He’s the one with the bad reputation, the one reported to have refused to believe in the Resurrection of Jesus because he wasn’t present when Jesus walked (literally) through the door that first time when all the others were gathered. He needed more. He said he wouldn’t believe unless he saw and touched the wounds of Jesus. We shouldn’t be so quick to judge Thomas though. After all, the whole thing was pretty astonishing and he was the only one not there. If I were in their company, still thinking that Jesus was a totally human “messiah” (anointed one) whose mission was to restore the throne of David (literally), the concept of resurrection would have been foreign enough to make me demand a little proof, I think. The others were terrified when he arrived that night so why do we think that any of them, having missed the visit, wouldn’t have needed more in order to believe that Jesus was, in fact, alive?

The last line of today’s gospel passage (JN 20:29) is for us. It says, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” That’s us he’s talking about. To be fair, however, it’s a little easier to hold a belief that almost two billion people worldwide support than it would have been for those alive in the time of Jesus. Sometimes I’m content with my situation but there are moments when everything in me would like to be back walking those roads with him, able to reach out and touch him, listen to him, feel the energy of God jumping from him to me. The best I can do every morning is to quiet myself and will to be in his presence, knowing that the possibility of his touch at the core of my being is always there. If only I can be that present myself…