July 3, 2026
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/070326.cfm
Commentary on
Ephesians 2:19-22; 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 Gospels 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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Friday, July 3, 2026
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 the Twin, who was
one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples
said to him, 'We have seen the Lord,' but he answered, '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.'
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. Do not be unbelieving any more but believe.'
Thomas replied, 'My Lord and my God!' Jesus said to him: You
believe because you can see me. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet
believe.
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
Thomas the incredulous. The message of this Gospel is very diverse. It is much
more profound and actual.
•
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 persons 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.” The doubt of Thomas 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 during 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. And up until today, the first word of Jesus is
and will always be: “Peace be with you!” What impresses is the kindness of
Jesus. He does not criticize, nor does he judge the unbelief 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
is, 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 has 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, of injustice. And Jesus becomes
present in our midst in the persons 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 him we say: “My Lord and my God!” This gift
of Thomas is the ideal attitude of faith. And Jesus completes 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 apparition, Jesus repeats: “Peace be with you!” This
repetition stresses the importance of Peace. To construct peace forms part of
the mission. Peace means much more than the absence of war. It means to
construct a harmonious human living together in which persons can be
themselves, having everything necessary to live, living happily together in
peace. This was the mission of Jesus and 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 capable to fulfil 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, in 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 perceive
that a community without pardon 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 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?
Concluding Prayer
Praise Yahweh, all nations, extol him, all peoples, for his
faithful love is strong and his constancy never-ending. (Ps 117)
Thomas is listed in the Synoptic Gospels and in the Acts of
the Apostles as one of the Twelve Apostles. His name in Aramaic, Te’oma,
means ‘twin’, as does Didymus in Greek. What we know of Thomas
comes mostly from the New Testament, although there are many other legends
about him. He is mentioned just once in each of the Synoptic Gospels and always
in the same context—as one of the Twelve Apostles chosen from among the
disciples of Jesus. There is no other mention of him in these Gospels. He is
also mentioned just once in the Acts of the Apostles, where he is simply listed
among the Apostles who gather in the “upper room” immediately after the
ascension of Jesus.
However, he is mentioned four times in John’s Gospel, where
something of his character appears. He comes across as somewhat aggressive and
argumentative. In chapter 11 of John’s Gospel, we are told that Jesus has just
received word that his friend Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, is
seriously ill. But Jesus waits for two days before deciding to go to Bethany.
The disciples are somewhat alarmed because there are people there who are
threatening the life of Jesus, and so they try to dissuade him from going. But
when it is clear that Jesus has made up his mind, Thomas says to his
companions:
Let us also go, that we may die with him.
Was it just bravado or was it a statement of loyalty?
Perhaps it was something of both.
Later, during the Last Supper, when Jesus speaks of leaving
his disciples, but also says that he will come back to take them to himself,
Jesus continues:
And you know the way to the place where I am going.
It is then that Thomas indignantly blurts out,
Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know
the way?
And we can be thankful to Thomas for eliciting one of Jesus’
most beautiful and meaningful statements:
I am the way and the truth and the life…
We next meet Thomas in chapter 20 of John’s Gospel. Jesus is
risen. He has already appeared to his disciples on Easter Sunday, but Thomas is
not there and, when told of the meeting, refuses to believe.
Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put
my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.
On the following Sunday, Jesus appears again and tells
Thomas to examine his hands and put his own hands in Jesus’ side:
Do not doubt but believe.
Again, the impulsive Thomas goes to the other extreme. He
falls to his knees and exclaims:
My Lord and my God!
He is the only person in the Gospel to address Jesus as
‘God’. It was an expression of deep faith.
Thomas’ last appearance in this Gospel is in the final
chapter when we are told that seven disciples, after the Resurrection, went
fishing on the Sea of Galilee. Of the five disciples named, one is Thomas the
Twin.
Apart from the Gospel narrative, there are many legends
about Thomas. For instance, there is one that he was the only witness to the
Assumption of Mary and that as she rose heavenwards she dropped her ‘girdle’—a
knotted textile cord used as a belt. This story was frequently depicted in the
art of Florence and the supposed original girdle is a relic belonging to Prato
Cathedral in Tuscany.
There is also long tradition in Edessa, Mesopotamia, that
Thomas was the Apostle of India. It is said that Thomas’ bones were brought
from India to Edessa. The local church of Kerala State in South India has a
tradition that Thomas sailed there to spread the Christian faith.
According to tradition, Thomas landed in Kodungallur in AD
52, in the company of a Jewish merchant, named Hebban. There were Jewish
colonies in Kodungallur since ancient times, and Jews continue to reside in
Kerala, tracing their ancient history. In the 13th century, Marco Polo, who
visited South India, mentions the Syrian Christians of Quilon and also refers
to a tomb of Thomas, confirming the tradition that Thomas died in South India.
While exploring the Malabar coast of Kerala, South India,
after Vasco da Gama’s arrival in Calicut (now Kozhikode) in 1498, the
Portuguese encountered Christians in South Western India, who traced their
foundations to Thomas. On the isolated island of Socotra south of Yemen in the
Arabian Sea, a community of Christians had been attested as early as 354 AD.
They survived to be documented in 1542 by Saint Francis Xavier, and told him
that their ancestors had been evangelized by Thomas. Francis Xavier was careful
to station four Jesuits to guide the faithful in Socotra into orthodoxy. An
attempt was made by the Portuguese in the 16th century to trace the original
tomb of Thomas.
Finally, they settled on Mylapore, near Madras (Chennai) in
south India, as the site of his martyrdom. Near Chennai stands a small hill
called St Thomas Mount, where the Apostle is said to have been killed in 72 AD.
Also to be found in Chennai is the Diocese of Saint Thomas of Mylapore to which
his mortal remains were supposedly transferred.
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