Thomas shows us his humanity, in his suspicion and
doubt about the risen Jesus. He did not believe the testimony of the other
Apostles, men whom he had accompanied for three years, at the side of the Lord.
Thomas put down conditions to his belief: to see and touch the risen Lord and
His wounds. Although we may scoff at his stubbornness, stupidity and doubt (or
whatever we want to call it), in each one of us there can also be that placing
of conditions on the Lord: "If you do this for me, I will believe,"
or "Work this out for me, and I will trust you." At times we are not
that different from Thomas. We too are called to believe without having
"seen". But we have seen the Lord! In our lives the Lord Jesus has
been active, revealing Himself to us over and over again, if we are willing to
open our eyes, our eyes, our minds and our hearts. It takes a great deal of
reflection in order to recognize Jesus in and around us.
Poor fellow, throughout
history we have been calling people who aren’t convinced a “doubting Thomas.”
But a deeper look at the Gospel shows that Thomas was not without faith, he was
an empiricist: an “I’ll believe it when I see it” type of guy. Jesus had
appeared to everyone but him and the Apostles were now filled with zealous
faith. Thomas just wanted the same experience. Can we blame him? Wouldn’t
things be easier if only Jesus would appear, breathe upon us and fill us with
His Holy Spirit so we would have that same unwavering faith, trust and hope!
It may surprise you, but
Jesus does sometimes still appear! On the cold winter morning of Feb. 21, 1931,
The Lord unexpectedly appeared to a simple Polish nun named Sister Faustina
Kowalska, of the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Krakow. He was
clothed in a white garment, had one hand raised in blessing and the other
touched His garment at the breast. From an opening in the garment came two
large rays: one white, representing the water (“which makes souls righteous”);
one red representing the blood (“the life of souls”) that flowed from His heart
as He was pierced by a lance as He died upon the cross. He told Faustina
“Fortunate is the one who will dwell in their shelter.”
As a lasting sign of His
forgiving love, Jesus told Faustina to paint an image of what she saw, with the
inscription: “Jesus I Trust in You.” He also called for a Feast of His Divine
Mercy to be celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. On that day, He
promised “the depths of My Mercy will be open to all. Whoever will go to
confession and Holy Communion on that day will receive complete forgiveness of
sin and punishment.” “Mankind will not enjoy peace until it turns with
confidence to My Mercy.”
On April 30, 2000, Sister
Faustina was canonized by Saint Pope John Paul II who officially designated
this Sunday as Divine Mercy Sunday. He re-emphasized the message given
Faustina: “Humanity will never find peace until it turns with trust to Divine
Mercy.” “Divine Mercy! This is the Easter gift that the Church receives from
the risen Christ and offers to humanity.” A week later, Jesus also appeared to
Thomas who simply exclaimed “My Lord and My God.” Jesus told Thomas blessed are
we who believe but have not seen him. He also told Faustina that His Divine
Mercy is offered to all. Do we need visual proof? Or do we have the faith to say
“Jesus, our Lord and our God, we Trust in You!” ….with “all our hearts.”