2023-07-03 07:01:00
July 3, 2023 / 12:01 a.m.
Every July 3, the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of Saint Thomas the Apostle, the simple fisherman from Galilee whom Jesus called to be his disciple. To him we owe those beautiful words that we repeat at Mass in front of God the Eucharist: “My Lord and My God”; those that constitute an authentic profession of faith. Thomas pronounced them eight days after Jesus rose from the dead, when Jesus appeared again to his disciples and invited them to stick his finger into the sore on his side.
The Gospel of Saint John gives an account of Saint Thomas’s incredulity in the testimony of the disciples: “We have seen the Lord.” Thomas said: “If I don’t see the mark of the nails in his hands and I don’t put my finger in the nail hole and I don’t put my hand in his side, I won’t believe.”
Then, “… Jesus stood in the midst with the doors closed, and said: «Peace be with you». Then he says to Tomás: «Put your finger here and look at my hands; bring your hand and put it in my side, and do not be incredulous but believer». Thomas answered him: “My Lord and my God.”
Thomas’ initial attitude certainly reflects his doubts, perhaps even his disappointment, because he had believed the Lord and trusted Him. He was full of distrust. However, his final words settle the account. Thomas, with the help of Christ, manages to overcome the lack of faith: “My Lord and My God.”
Now he is sure that it is Jesus himself who is in front of him, and that he is true God. Thomas was the first to fully recognize the divinity of the risen Christ.
This recognition seals that previous moment when, through this Apostle, Jesus reveals his nature: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one goes to the Father but through me”, regarding Thomas asking: “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, how can we know the way?”
Once the Apostles were sent by the Holy Spirit to preach the Good News to all nations, Thomas headed for Persia and its surroundings, as well as Ethiopia and India, where tradition reports the end of his life in martyrdom. .
The Saint is credited with having received the belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary, with which he is sometimes represented. According to an ancient tradition, Thomas also did not believe in the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, and had the tomb of the Virgin opened, finding only the abundant flowers that filled the grave. The same tradition indicates that the Mother of God, from Heaven, untied his belt and let it fall into the hands of the Apostle.
Saint Thomas is patron of architects, builders, judges, theologians and of the cities of Prato, Parma and Urbino in Italy.
Pope Francis, on the Feast of Saint Thomas in 2013, reminded the faithful that “the Lord knows why he does things. He gives each of us the time that he thinks is best for us. He has given Tomás a week. Jesus appears with his sores: his whole body was clean, beautiful, full of light, but the sores were and still are, and when the Lord comes, at the end of the world, he will show us his sores ” .
“To believe, Thomas wanted to put his fingers in the sores: he was stubborn. But the Lord wanted precisely a stubborn person to make us understand something bigger. Thomas saw the Lord, who invited him to put his finger in the nail wound , to put his hand on his side and did not say: it is true: the Lord has risen. No! He went further. He said: God! He is the first disciple to confess the divinity of Christ after the resurrection, and to worship properly”.
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