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Also known as
Didymus; the Twin; Apostle of India; Doubting Thomas
Memorial
3 July; celebration of the transference of his body to Edessa in
Mesopotamia
Profile
Apostle. He was ready to die with Jesus when Christ went to Jerusalem, but
is best remembered for doubting the Resurrection until allowed to touch
Christ's wounds. Preached in Parthia, Persia and India, though he was so
reluctant to start the mission that he had to be taken into slavery by a
merchant headed that way. He eventually gave in to God's will, was freed,
and planted the new Church over a wide area. He formed many parishes and
built many churches along the way. His symbol is the builder's square,
from an ancient story that built a palace for King Guduphara in India.
Born
unknown
Died
stabbed with a spear c.72 in India
Patronage
against doubt, architects, blind people, builders, construction workers,
Ceylon East Indies, geometricians, India, masons, Pakistan, people in
doubt, Sri Lanka, stone masons, stonecutters, surveyors, theologians
Readings
"Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus
came." He was the only disciple absent; on his return he heard what had
happened but refused to believe it. The Lord came a second time; he
offered his side for the disbelieving disciple to touch, held out his
hands, and showing the scars of his wounds, healed the wound of disbelief.
Dearly beloved, what do you see in these events? Do you really believe
that it was by chance that this chosen disciple was absent, then came and
heard, heard and doubted, doubted and touched, touched and believed? It
was not by chance but in God's providence. In a marvelous way God's mercy
arranged that the disbelieving disciple, in touching the wounds of his
master's body, should heal our wounds of disbelief. The disbelief of
Thomas has done more for our faith than the faith of the other disciples.
As he touches Christ and is won over to belief, every doubt is cast aside
and our faith is strengthened. So the disciple who doubted, then felt
Christ's wounds, becomes a witness to the reality of the resurrection.
Touching Christ, he cried out: "'My Lord and my God.' Jesus said to him:
'Because you have seen me, Thomas, you have believed.'" Paul said: "Faith
is the guarantee of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen." It
is clear, then, that faith is the proof of what cannot be seen. What is
seen gives knowledge, not faith. When Thomas saw and touched, why was he
told: "You have believed because you have seen me?" Because what he saw
and what he believed were different things. God cannot be seen by mortal
man. Thomas saw a human being, whom he acknowledged to be God, and said:
"My Lord and my God." Seeing, he believed ; looking at one who was true
man, he cried out that this was God, the God he could not see.
What follows is reason for great joy: "Blessed are those who have not seen
and have believed." There is here a particular reference to ourselves. We
are included in these words, but only if we follow up our faith with good
works. The true believer practices what he believes. But of those who pay
only lip service to faith, Paul has this to say: "They profess to know
God, but they deny him in their works." Therefore James says: "Faith
without works is dead."
- from a homily by Pope Saint Gregory the Great
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