Believe

The WORD today (See http://usccb.org/bible/readings/070313.cfm) reminds me that we should believe God, and not have a hardened heart.

Hebrews defines faith as “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we don’t see.” In the gospel, we don’t see St Thomas exhibiting this faith. When the disciples told him they saw the risen Jesus, he did not believe, and even said that he will not believe until he touches the wounded body of Jesus. He is not contented with merely seeing Jesus but wanted to touch him as well. So when Jesus appeared to them and Thomas was with them, he told Thomas to touch him.

If St Thomas did not exhibit faith, why are we celebrating his feast day today?

Well, maybe for us to be reminded what we too, in one way or another, in one circumstance or another, are acting like St Thomas. When we don’t believe God and his plans, when we belittle his love and his power, when we get discouraged by the challenges and evil in this world, we are acting like St Thomas. But I think  more than that, God wants to remind us that he sees the potential in us. He sees what we can become. He sees past our failures and weakness.

God sees us not for what we are and what we do, but for what we can become if we cooperate with him.

St Thomas may have lacked faith, but Jesus reached out to him in  a personal way, enabling him to say “My Lord, and my God!” – what each one of us say everytime we celebrate mass. His profession of faith after his personal encounter with Jesus is meant to inspire us, that Jesus does not give up easily, and will come to us and will reach out to us in a way we need to. And our encounter with Jesus will enable us to believe, to have faith, and to do great things for him, through him.

May we be inspired by St Thomas, and be challenged by Jesus words – “Blessed are those who have not seen me and have believed”

Father God,

Thank you for today. Thank you for St Thomas. Lord, I am sorry for acting like him. sorry for not having faith in you, for wanting signs and manifestations of your love and power in my life. Sorry for letting challenges in life and evil in this world to drown me and discourage me. Thank you for not giving up on me, Lord. I pray that you would always reach out to me, and as you do so, may it continue to inspire me and build my faith, so that I could do great things for and through you. Amen.

Blessed day!

In Christ,

-g-