DOUBTING THOMAS - Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Easter

Homily for the Second Sunday of Easter

Based on the Jn. 20: 19-313 (Gospel);  Ac 4:32-35 (1st Reading); 1 Jn 5:1-6 (2nd Reading)

From the Series of “Reflections and Teachings of the Desert”

DOUBTING THOMAS

“Unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe’. (Jn. 20:25)

The title for this Sunday’s homily is a very important one because it has given the English language a very important idiomatic expression, which is “doubting Thomas”, an expression for unbelief in general and a doubter in a particular. A doubter is a person who does not easily believe, or who refuses to believe without first asking for proof. The source for this idiomatic expression is, of course, Jesus Christ’s apostle, Thomas, who doubted (Jn. 20:24-29). Encarta dictionaries defines “doubting Thomas” as an “unbeliever, cynic, agnostic, pessimist, skeptic’.

The article on Microsoft Encarta  lists the three instances in the gospels where Apostle Thomas was mentioned, to wit:

“Saint Thomas, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. Although much has been written on his life, only biblical accounts, principally those in the Book of John, are considered reliable. The first of three references (see John 11:5-16) implies Thomas's devotion to Jesus: When Jesus sets out for Judea, where Jews have threatened to stone him, Thomas suggests, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” The second reference (John 14:1-7) occurs at the Last Supper, during which Jesus says, “And you know the way where I am going.” Thomas asks, “... how can we know the way?” Jesus responds, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” In John 20:19-29, Thomas, absent when Jesus first appears to the apostles after the Resurrection, doubts the others' accounts of the event. When Jesus appears again and invites Thomas to touch his wounds, the apostle exclaims, “My Lord and my God!” Thus Thomas was the first to explicitly recognize Christ's divinity. The phrase “doubting Thomas” stems from this account” (Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation.)

Our gospel narrative for this Sunday, under the heading “Appearance to the Disciples”, is:

                “In the evening of the same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were,ⁱ for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them. ‘Peace be with you’, And showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so am I sending you’. After saying this he breathed^j on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.’

                Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. When the^k disciples said, ‘We have seen the Lord’, he answered, ‘Unless I see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe’. Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them. ‘Peace be with you’, he said. Then he spoke to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side^.l  Doubt no longer but believe.’ Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him: ‘You believe because you can see me. Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.’^m

                There were many other signs that Jesus worked and the disciples saw, but they are not recorded in this book. These are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing this you may have life through his name.” (Jn 20:19-31).

Our First Reading, under the title “The early Christian community^m”,  is:

“The whole group of believers was united, heart and soul; no one claimed for his own use anything that he had, as everything they owned was held in common. The apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus with great power,ⁿ and they were all given great respect.^o None of their members was ever in want, as all those who owned land or houses would sell them, and bring the money from them, to present it to the apostles, it was then distributed to any members who might be in need. (Ac 4:32-35).

 Our second Reading is:

Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten by God; and whoever loves the Father that begot him loves the child whom he begets.^a We can be sure that we love God’s children if we love God himself and do what he has commanded us; this is what loving God is - keeping his commandments; and his commandments are not difficult, because anyone who has been begotten by God has already overcome the world; this is the victory over the world - our faith. Who can overcome the world? Only the man who believes that Jesus is the Son of God; b Jesus Christ who came by water and blood, c not with water only, but with water and blood; with the Spirit as another witness – since the Spirit is the truth. Jesus Christ who came by water and blood, ^e not with water only, but with water and blood’; with the Spirit as another witness - since the spirit is the truth” (1 Jn 5:1-6).

V. 6 of this Second Reading (1 Jn 5:1-6), which mentions blood and water” has a parallel with v. 27 of the Gospel narrative(Jn 20:19-31)  that mentions the scar on Jesus Christ’ side that was pierced by a soldier’s lance as he hanged on the cross. Both verses relates to the passage of Jn 19:34 that says: “One of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance; and immediately there came out blood and water.^r”

v. 29 of the Gospel that says, “Jesus said to him: ‘You believe because you can see me. Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe’” is related to the following passges:

Jn 4:48 - “Jesus said, ‘So you will not believe unless you see signs and portents!’”

Jn 12:37 - Though they had been present when he gave so many signs, they did not believe in him.

Lk. 1:45 - “Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.”

The Gospel (Jn 20:19-31) is also related to the First Reading (Ac 4:32-35) when they particularly refer to the faith of Jesus Christ’s disciples, including doubting Thomas, when they came to the point where they shared everything, i.e. material goods, with everyone. This faith of Jesus Christ’s followers (disciples) is what overcame the influence of the world over individual lives that made them share their resources like the first Christians, which was narrated by this Sunday’s First Reading. As verse 4 of 1 John 5 (Second Reading) says: “And his commandments are not difficult, because anyone who has been begotten by God has already overcome the world; this is the victory over the world - our faith.”
 

Apparently, the source for the faithlessness on the part of Apostle Thomas was his frequent absenteeism. Because he was always absent from the gatherings of the apostles, he did not readily believed what had been told about by those who were present during his absences and he always doubted them. Hence, he lacked the faith that the other members of the group have.

The lesson to be derived from the doubting Apostle Thomas is that frequent absences from gatherings or assemblies will necessarily generate doubts, incredulities and faithlessness in the absentees.