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A Reflection from the Fuel Daily Readings App for Divine Mercy Sunday, the Second Sunday of Easter. Click here to read the reading.
It's easy to be critical when reading Scripture. I cringe when Adam and Eve break the one rule God gives them. The Israelites are so consistently hopeless and just can't seem to get it right. For me, more than any other example, it is really, truly, incredibly easy to be critical of Thomas in today's Gospel.
More than most, Thomas has seen first-hand what Jesus can accomplish in His earthly ministry. He followed Jesus for years and got a closer view than almost anyone of God’s self-revelation to humanity in sending His only Son. Thomas doesn't have the right to doubt, does he?
I'd like to think I would instantly believe the word of the other disciples. And then I remember when I've put God to the test, "prove yourself to me right here, right now, and I'll believe." "Let me feel your presence at this moment" or "help me magically gain all the knowledge for this exam right now!"
I may not have literally walked the earth with Jesus, but I have been blessed to encounter Him on numerous occasions. Yet I still find opportunities to doubt the goodness He has provided in my life. Enough that I should know better than to doubt, yet I do. And given the opportunity to see the risen Lord before you as final proof of His existence, I'd take it in a heartbeat.
So who am I kidding? 'Doubting' Thomas has as much right to doubt as anyone. This isn't even a story of doubting necessarily, but of fear. Thomas is living in the darkness of the crucifixion and hasn't experienced the light of the resurrection. But even more than that, he stands in my place and the place of all my fellow doubters. Jesus doesn't leave us in fear or disbelief, He makes a point to remove the doubt within Thomas by appearing so that he may believe. Jesus comes to Thomas that He may cast out his fears. Thomas was shown so that today, we may believe.
+ "My Lord and my God!" Help me believe like Thomas, and lead me to steadfast faith that doesn't seek proofs. May I may believe in You without seeing. Amen.