July 3, 2025
Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle
Lectionary: 593
Reading 1
Brothers and sisters:
You are no longer strangers and sojourners,
but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones
and members of the household of God,
built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets,
with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.
Through him the whole structure is held together
and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord;
in him you also are being built together
into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (Mark 16:15) Go out to all the world and tell the
Good News.
Praise the LORD, all you nations;
glorify him, all you peoples!
R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
For steadfast is his kindness for us,
and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.
R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
You believe in me, Thomas, because you have seen me, says the Lord;
blessed are those who have not seen, but still believe!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
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 into the nailmarks
and put my hand into his side, I will not believe."
Now a week later his 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."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/070325.cfm
Commentary on
Ephesians 2:19-22; Psalm 116; John 20:24-29
Today’s Gospel reading recalls the scene after Jesus’
resurrection when Jesus appeared to his disciples in the upper room. They first
saw him on Easter Sunday, the day of the Resurrection, but for some reason,
Thomas was not with them. When, later on, they told Thomas they had seen the
Lord, he absolutely refused to believe them. He said that unless he saw with
his own eyes the mark of the nails in Jesus’ hands and was able to put his
hands into the wound in Jesus’ side, he would not believe.
Then, exactly a week later, when they were all gathered
together again and Thomas was with them, Jesus suddenly appeared, although the
doors were again locked. After giving them a greeting of peace, he immediately
addressed Thomas:
Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your
hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.
Thomas is clearly overwhelmed. He can only burst out:
My Lord and my God!
It is clearly a statement of deep faith. He is the only
person in the Gospel to address Jesus directly as ‘God’. And it seems to have
been made without his touching the body of his Risen Lord.
Jesus then says:
Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are
those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.
Two comments can be made. First, Thomas in fact went beyond
what he was seeing. He saw the Risen Jesus, but he addressed him as God. That
was something which went beyond just seeing—it was a statement of faith.
Second, the rest of the statement is addressed to us. None
of us has ever seen the Risen Jesus, but we firmly believe that he did rise
from the dead and is in glory with the Father. It is on the basis of that act
of faith that our Christian life is founded.
The First Reading from the Letter to the Ephesians reminds
us that our membership in the Christian community is built on the foundation of
the Apostles and prophets, with Jesus himself as the headstone. Thomas is part
of that foundation. And it is through Jesus that the whole structure of the
Christian community is held together and:
…grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
In the Risen Jesus, we:
…are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for
God.
We, as Paul says elsewhere, are the Temple of the Lord, the
Body of Christ, his visible presence on earth. This is both a huge privilege
and a huge responsibility for each one of us. We remember that Jesus once said:
…whoever sees me sees him who sent me. (John
12:45)
But we also believe that whenever someone looks at us, they
should also see Jesus. This is the faith that Jesus spoke of to Thomas. Are we
really aware of this?
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Thursday,
July 3, 2025
Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle
Opening Prayer
Father,
You call your children to walk in the light of
Christ.
Free us from darkness and keep us in the
radiance of Your truth.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your
Son who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and
ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - 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 into the nail marks and put my hand into his
side, I will not believe." Now a week later his 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."
Reflection
Today is the Feast of Saint
Thomas, and the Gospel speaks to us about the encounter of Jesus with Thomas,
the apostle who wanted to see in order to believe. For this reason many call him “Doubting
Thomas.”
The message of the Gospel
today is much more profound and timely than it might initially appear. Let us
look deeper into it:
•
John 20: 24-25: The doubt of Thomas. Thomas, one of
the twelve, was not present when Jesus appeared to the disciples the week
before. He did not believe in the
witness of the others who said, “We have seen the Lord.” He gives some conditions: “Unless I can 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.” Thomas is very demanding. In
order to believe he wants to see! He
does not want a miracle in order to believe. No! He wants to see the signs on
the hands, on the feet and on the side! He does not believe in the glorious
Jesus, separated from the human Jesus who suffered on the Cross. When John writes, at the end of the first
century, there were some people who did not accept the coming of the Son of God
in the flesh (2 Jn 7; 1 Jn 4: 2-3). They were the Gnostics, who despised matter
and the body. John presents this concern of Thomas to criticize the Gnostics:
“To see in order to believe.” Thomas’ doubt also makes us see the difficulty of
believing in the Resurrection!
•
John 20: 26-27: Do not be unbelieving but
believe. The text says “six days later.”
That means that Thomas was capable of maintaining his opinion for a whole week
against the witness of the other apostles. Stubborn! Thank God, for us! Thus,
six days later, during the community meeting, they once again had the profound experience
of the presence of the risen Lord in their midst. The closed doors could not prevent the
presence of Jesus in the midst of those who believe in him. Today, it is also
like this. When we are meeting, even
when we are meeting with the doors closed, Jesus is in our midst. The first
word of Jesus is, and will always be, “Peace be with you!” What impresses us is
the kindness of Jesus. He does not
criticize, nor does
He judge the disbelief of
Thomas, but He accepts the challenge and says, “Thomas, put your finger in the
hole of My hands!” Jesus confirms the conviction of Thomas and of the
communities, that the glorious Risen One is the tortured crucified One! The
Jesus who is in the community is not a glorious Jesus who has nothing in common
with our life. He is the same Jesus who lived on this earth and on His body He
bears the signs of His Passion. The signs of the Passion are found today in the
sufferings of people, in hunger, in the signs of torture and injustice. Jesus
becomes present in our midst in the people who react, who struggle for life and
who do not allow themselves to be disheartened. Thomas believes in this Christ
and so do we!
•
John 20: 28-29: Blessed are those who have not seen
and yet believe. Together with Thomas we say: “My Lord and my God!” This gift
of Thomas is the ideal attitude of faith. And Jesus concludes with a final
message: “You believe because you can see Me. Blessed are those who have not
seen and yet believe!” With this phrase,
Jesus declares blessed all of us who find ourselves in the same condition:
without having seen, we believe that Jesus, who is in our midst, is the same
One who died crucified!
The mandate: “As the Father
sent Me so I am sending you!” From this Jesus, who was crucified and rose from
the dead, we receive the mission, the same one which He has received from the
Father (Jn 20: 21). Here, in the second appearance, Jesus repeats, “Peace be
with you!” This repetition stresses the
importance of peace. Making peace is
part of the mission. Peace means much
more than the absence of war. It means to build a harmonious human life
together in which people can be themselves, having everything necessary to
live, living happily together in peace. This was the mission of Jesus and is
also our own mission. Jesus breathed and
said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (Jn 20: 22), and with the help of the Holy
Spirit we will be able to fulfill the mission which He has entrusted to us.
Then Jesus communicates the power to forgive sins: “If you forgive anyone’s
sins, they are forgiven; if you retain anyone’s sins, they are retained!” The central point of the mission of peace is
reconciliation, the effort of trying to overcome barriers which separate us.
This power of reconciling and of forgiving is given to the community (Jn 20:
23; Mt 18: 18). In the Gospel of Matthew, this power is also given to Peter (Mt
16: 19). Here we can see that a community without forgiveness and without
reconciliation is not a Christian community. In one word, our mission is that
of “forming community” according to the example of the community of the Father,
of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Personal Questions
•
In society today, the divergence and the tensions of
race, social class, religion, gender and culture are enormous and they continue
to grow every day. How can the mission of reconciliation be carried out today?
•
In your community and in your family is there some
mustard seed, the sign of a reconciled society?
For Further Study
Saint Thomas traveled east
to India and converted many in the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu to
Christianity in the first century. The history of the Church in India is very
diverse, with many rifts. However, one of these communities of “Saint Thomas
Christians” (Nasrani) is the Syro-Malabar Church, one of several Eastern
Churches which are in full communion with Rome.
Take some time to look at
the history of some of these Eastern Churches this week. In addition to the
various Roman Rites, there are several other Rites used throughout these
Churches. These historical traditions are preserved within the Vatican through
the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.
Concluding Prayer
Praise Yahweh, all nations, extol Him, all
peoples, for His faithful love is strong and His constancy never-ending. (Ps
117)
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