Commentary
Friday, July 3, 2020, Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle
The Body and the Kingdom
First Reading Commentary: Ephesians 2:19-22
Today’s readings are selected for the Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle. When you consider today’s first reading, you might ask, what does this have to do with St. Thomas? But remember that Thomas doubted the Resurrection of Christ until he saw Christ for himself and when Thomas saw Christ; he came to understand and believe what Paul would later write in this passage from his letter to the Ephesians.
Paul said that we are no longer strangers or sojourners, meaning that we are not temporary visitors, but that we are fellow citizens and members of the household of God. Christ made this possible by giving Himself up on the Cross and by giving us the sacraments of the Church. We stop being strangers or sojourners when we believe. It is by our faith in Christ that we will be able to enter the Kingdom as a citizen and member of the household of God.
Our citizenship and membership are based upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus as the capstone. When Paul says this, he is emphasizing the fact that the prophets told of the coming of Christ and that the Apostles were following their commandment from Christ to evangelize and build the Church. But Paul was also emphasizing the fact that without Christ, there is nothing. It is not about us or anything which is human or of this world. It is all about Christ. He is the capstone (cornerstone). We all depend on Him. Christ made Himself a part of us and we are a part of Him because He allows it.
Paul confirmed this when he wrote, “Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord.” Collectively, we are all a part of the Mystical Body of Christ. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, page 205, paragraph 776, says that, “…God desires that the whole human race may become one People of God, form one Body of Christ, and be built up into one temple of the Holy Spirit.”
This is another way of saying what Paul wrote at the end of this passage, “In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” The eternal dwelling place of God is in the Kingdom of heaven. So as members of the Mystical Body, we are being built up together as one with Christ in the Kingdom. But, as individuals, in order to take our part, we must believe. Thomas came to realize how important faith is when he saw Christ after the Resurrection. What stage are we in with our faith? Are we like Thomas before he saw Christ, or after?
My Lord and My God
Gospel Commentary: John 20:24-29
Thomas was not with the other disciples when Jesus appeared to them after the Resurrection. When they told Thomas that they had seen Christ, Thomas said, “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.”
Faith, by human nature, is not easy because it is difficult for us to accept anything without having some kind of tangible proof. Faith requires us to believe something which we may not be able to prove in a physical or tangible way. When we put things into a worldly perspective, weak faith may not be a bad thing. But God is not of this world—God made this world. Faith in God requires us to step out of our comfort zone and that is something which Thomas was not ready to do.
Jesus appeared to the disciples again about a week later and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked but Jesus came through the doors and said, “Peace be with you.” Consider these two thoughts. 1- Jesus does not need any doors to be opened for Him but we do. We cannot go through any door without it being open even if opening it means breaking it down. So, it is that we cannot enter the Kingdom unless we enter by way of the door that Christ has opened for us. 2- Jesus always brings peace because He is peace. We can never be totally at peace in our lives without the peace of Christ.
We all know people who seem to live in a world of absolute chaos. Nothing ever seems to go right for them and they always are full of complaints. It’s no wonder that they are always complaining when you look at the way that they live their lives. Sadly, these people do not have the peace of Christ and many of them never go to church or spend time in prayer.
We also know people who have problems in their lives but never complain. They are always at peace and one may think that they just don’t care or have given up. In some cases, that may be true. But many of these people have learned to give their problems to the Lord in faith. As a result, they do have the peace of Christ and there is a common denominator among them—they do take their religion seriously, they do go to church and they pray.
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.” Thomas answered and said, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus reminded Thomas of one of the Beatitudes by saying, “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”
There is a powerful lesson for all of us in this Gospel. If St. Thomas the Apostle could be taken over by his human nature and have doubt, we too can have doubt. But we must understand where that doubt comes from. The evil one will do anything to keep us from entering the Kingdom and the best way for him to derail us is by attacking our faith and he uses our human nature as one of his weapons to derail us.
When we let him, the devil will con us into thinking of God in a worldly way and that simply does not work and Thomas found that out. I am convinced that the devil’s con job on some of us is why there are so many people who say that they do not belong to any organized religion but they are spiritual or new age. I believe that this is why there are so many lapsed Catholics and why there are so many Cafeteria Catholics and Cafeteria Christians. These people pick and choose what they want to accept in the bible and reject or ignore the rest. In fact, I believe that this is why there are so many religions and false prophets in the world today. Worse yet, I believe that this is why there are so many people who do not believe anything.
All of this is because in addition to using our human nature as a weapon against us, one of the devil's favorite battle plans is, to divide and conquer. Don’t believe that? Look around at what is going on in the world today. Look at the divisive ideals in our society and the divisive policies of our government.
Even in the midst of a worldwide deadly pandemic, we have a president who would rather foster policies and practices that divide and endanger people rather than foster policies and practices which will bring us together and actually save lives.
Once we understand that the devil is the root of any doubts that we may have, we can tell Satin to get behind us and be the blessed ones who have not seen but believe.
Make no mistake about it. These times are a test to our faith and if we are going to live up to our faith, we must do exactly what Jesus told us to do in last Sunday’s Gospel. That is to take up our cross and follow Him and we cannot do that if we are divided.
