Faith or Experience...Which Is It?

~~~ Feast of Saint Thomas, the Apostle ~~~

 

~~~ Ephesians 2:19-22 ~~~ Psalm 117 ~~~ John 20:24-29 ~~~

 

“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.”

 

Jesus wanted Thomas to be a believer.

He wanted him to believe in the resurrection;

 so he made this appearance just for Thomas.

Another example of the diversity among those chosen by Jesus himself.

Thomas was an apostle. He had walked with Jesus.

He still had his own personal doubts.

 

Then he (Jesus) 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.”

 

Jesus invites Thomas to not just see with his eyes

 but to touch his wounded hands and to put his hand into his side.

I wonder if Thomas was a little embarrassed standing there

before the risen Jesus.

I think I might have been asking myself why I could not believe.

 

Jesus granted the requests made by Thomas.

Thomas was not satisfied by the testimonies

given by the others about seeing the risen Jesus.

One might ask where was Thomas? Why was he not with the others?

Was he out preaching about his friend, Jesus?

Was he alone in prayer?

Had he chosen to mourn the death of his friend in private?

Was he hiding in fear of the repercussions of his relationship with Jesus?

We can only speculate.

We do know he was not with the others in the upper room.

 

How many times have I been like Thomas?

How many times have I doubted?

How many times have I been shown a glimpse of the truth by you, Lord?

My prayer today is to never again doubt our Lord.

 

 

 

Coming together with others in time of sadness is so often healing for the soul.

We come together to comfort one another.

 

Jesus demonstrated his great compassion and love for Thomas.

Jesus did not want Thomas to remain an unbeliever.

Jesus does not want us to remain as an unbeliever either.

 

Every day we are given reasons to believe.

Jesus knows that we too may occasionally find ourselves

 in the camp of the non believers.

He will do all that he can to lead us to the camp of the believers.

Believing, that is another expression for Faith.

 

I want to be a strong believer...I renew this decision now...

won't you please join me.

 

'...Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.'

 

We may not be able to see the nail marks in the hands of Jesus,

but we can see all that he has done for us.

The seeds of faith are often hidden in our moments of doubt.

 

May you continue to find numerous reasons to believe.

Blessings come from believing and not seeing.

 

Saint Thomas, pray for us

 in our times of disbelief.