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 breathedj 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 thek
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 communitym”, 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.
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