From Doubt To Faith

2021년 4월 11일

From Doubt To Faith

< Sunday of Divine Mercy >

  Today we hear about the dramatic meeting between the risen Jesus and Thomas. We can identify with Thomas because, if we are honest, we too can admit we sometimes doubt the unbelievable proclamation central to Christianity: “Jesus is risen!” Thomas wasn’t with the apostles that Easter evening when Jesus first appeared in their midst in the upper room—even though the doors were locked. Thomas might therefore rightly be considered the patron saint of those who miss Mass. The apostles, themselves, had initially dismissed the witness of Mary Magdalene and the women who insisted Jesus had been raised from the dead. Men not believing the testimony of women. Men dismissing women’s stories. Things have definitely improved in 2,000 years. Thomas, for his part, was convinced the apostles had caught a bad dose of the women’s hysteria. He ups the ante, as it were. “Unless I see the wounds in his hands and put my finger into the wounds and my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Jesus, ever accommodating, appears again a week later and gently invites Thomas to probe the nail marks for himself. We are not told if he took Jesus up on his invitation. Instead, we get the highest profession of Christian faith from the lips of Doubting Thomas: “My Lord and my God!”

Several takeaways. Doubt can lead to faith. The resurrection, whatever it was, was at least physical. Yet for all his physicality, the risen Jesus could pass through locked doors. But the main point is that faith in Jesus does not come from the empty tomb but rather from the more radical encounter with the risen Jesus himself. We can experience his presence despite doubt, sorrow and yes, even sin. He confers on us a peace the world cannot give and a joy the world cannot take away. But the effect of meeting Jesus is measured only by our willingness to let that encounter transform us. If Jesus is risen, everything changes. If Jesus is not risen, nothing else matters.

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