Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “The proverbial scene of the doubting Thomas that occurred eight days after Easter is very well known. At first he did not believe that Jesus had appeared in his absence and said: "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe" (Jn 20: 25).
Basically, from these words emerges the conviction that Jesus can now be recognised by his wounds rather than by his face. Thomas holds that the signs that confirm Jesus' identity are now above all his wounds, in which he reveals to us how much he loved us” (Benedict XVI, catechesis Wednesday 27 September 2006).
The figure of St Thomas the Apostle recalled by the Church yesterday, 3 July, was illuminated by the catechesis which the Holy Father devoted to him last year when he was looking at the twelve apostles, he dwelt on this disciple of Jesus who, through doubt, reached, by divine mercy, living faith in the Lord. How often man is tempted by the same doubts as Thomas, which assail him with regard to the ineffable mystery of God manifested in Jesus Christ! Unfortunately doubting man does not always dock at the certainty of the Lord's presence in his personal history and in the history of mankind, which thanks to the Incarnation of Jesus is the History of Salvation.
Thomas did doubt, but in his own way, he asked for the Lord's help recognising that he was ineffably overcome by the greatness of the mystery surrounding the Person and the life of Christ. Faced with this mystery, as the Pope recalled in that catechesis, our attitude must be one of humility rather than self-sufficiency, as if the creature were on the same level as the Creator! “Let us be brave enough to say: "I do not understand you, Lord; listen to me, help me to understand". In such a way, with this frankness which is the true way of praying, of speaking to Jesus, we express our meagre capacity to understand and at the same time place ourselves in the trusting attitude of someone who expects light and strength from the One able to provide them. ” (Benedict XVI, catechesis Wednesday 27 September 2006).
How great is the gift of faith we receive in baptism and how sincere must our humility be if we are to grow in trust in Jesus whose Light of Truth illuminates the little ones and dulls the sight of those who think they can do without It! How wonderful is the faith of the little ones, the simple of heart to whom the Father reveals His secrets (cfr. Mt 11,25); with their trust they “touch” the Heart of Jesus, the feel Him close to them and are aware of his radiating Love along their earthly path. For each of them the Lord's promise comes true: “I am the light of the world; anyone who follows me will not be walking in the dark, but will have the light of life.” (Jn 8,12). This Light of life is Divine Mercy which, like to doubting Thomas, restores to the incredulous the joy of living an unequalled experience, that of being children of God, children in the Son!
The faith of the Mother of God continues to sustain the faith of the Church, of every individual member who, turning to her as Mother, asks her help to grow in filial trust in God. At the school of Mary, children and adults, young people and the elderly, we are all in the same class, none of feels he has “finished school”, we all live the joy of starting over again to learn that Lesson of life which the Mother, our Mother in the faith, gives every day.
On the blackboard at this “school”, there appear one at a time the lines of the eternal Gospel of Jesus and his Mother who explains them to us and fills our heart with the joy of “doing what He tells us to do”. This is the joy of the servants at Cana who discover trust of doing because they watched the Mother of Jesus who with one word, one look, first at Him and then at them, convinced them that nothing is so worthwhile than to follow the Lamb wherever He goes! (Agenzia Fides 4/7/2007, righe 46, parole 704)
