Ask questions from your heart and you will be answered from the heart

"God isn't afraid of our doubts, but He doesn't want to leave them with us either."

(Gospel text: Jn 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 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."

The apostle Thomas has an unfortunate reputation as the “Doubting Thomas.” For some of us, the first and only thing we remember about him is his statement: “Unless I see … I will not believe” (John 20:25). But earlier on, when Jesus told the Twelve that he was going back to a hostile Judea to help his friend Lazarus, Thomas rallied the other disciples to join him. “Let us also go to die with him” (11:16), he said. So maybe there’s more to Thomas than doubt. Maybe if we look at the witness of Thomas’ entire life, we will find new lessons for our own spiritual journey.

According to long and well-established traditions, Thomas was a rather active apostle. It seems that he pushed the boundaries of the church far beyond the Mediterranean Basin where Peter and Paul labored. He traveled to Parthia, in the northeastern section of modern-day Iran, where he preached and founded a church. From there he moved farther east, to India, where he must have laid a very deep foundation. Thomas’ work there was so powerful that even today, Christians in India still honor him as their patron and their father in the faith.

So it’s a little unfair that we tag Thomas only as one filled with doubt. He may have wavered, but the whole arc of his life reveals not a doubter but a faithful follower of Christ: an apostle, a missionary, an evangelist, and a martyr. Thomas was loving and loyal, and also quite stubborn in his pursuit of truth. Maybe that’s why he couldn’t just take the other apostles’ word for it that they had seen the risen Christ!

So today, thank the Holy Spirit for giving us Thomas. Not Doubting Thomas but Courageous Thomas. Loyal Thomas. Persistent Thomas. If you still identify better with Thomas in his doubt, remember that Jesus accepted him right where he was and took him deeper. He will meet you, too, wherever you are. He will be patient with you as you pursue the truth and grow in your faith.