John 20:19-31
Sometimes I envy Saint Faustina. There in her convent over several years she was given the privilege of conversing with Jesus. She left a diary full of things Jesus told her and we honor her, in a way, on this day, because she is the apostle of mercy. There have been many other saints who have had the privilege of some sort of communication with God, with Jesus, with Mary, or one of the saints. We hear about them because in some way they left something besides the stories of their conversations behind—perhaps founding a religious order, maybe leaving behind an important theological writing, or maybe dying a martyr for the faith. It’s as though God confirmed their witness by something else.
And of course there are saints that didn’t have direct communication with God or his saints, at least that we know about. John Paul II did not, apparently. Saint Paul of the Cross, who used to break into tears when he thought about Jesus’ passion, did not report any visions. You apparently don’t need to be a saint to have heavenly interventions. Saint Augustine had some kind of mystical communication before he was baptized. Saint Francis, whose real name was John but because he loved fine clothes he was called “Frenchy,” received the call to rebuild Jesus’ church before he tore off all his clothing and gave them back to his father. I suppose there are a lot of people that have heard heavenly voices who haven’t told us about them for fear of being locked up. Just for the record, I haven’t heard any messages myself. The nearest thing to a heavenly voice was when I was trying to decide if I had a vocation to marriage because I had met this really cute girl; and I had this inner voice tell me that “whatever you decide, I’ll still love you.”
Most of us are more like me than the great saints, I’m sure. I don’t know if the apostle Thomas ever had a special message like I’m talking about. After what happened in today’s gospel, however, he spent the rest of his life creating Christian communities up and down the shores of the Arabian Peninsula and into India, where he met a martyr’s death. But you and I probably aren’t going to be like Thomas, either. But this little story from the Gospel of John can tell us a few things.
Thomas was not with the other apostles when Jesus first appeared. There’s an old story about a young man sitting in front of the fireplace with his pastor, complaining that his faith was very weak and he wasn’t even sure if he believed anymore. The pastor said nothing, just threw a log on the fire which had burned down to glowing coals. In a few minutes the log caught fire and flared up. Your faith isn’t going to grow if you don’t hang out with faithful people. One of the martyrs of Japan, now considered a saint, initially took the emperor up on his offer to have his life spared if he renounced Christianity. As he watched his fellow Christians being put to death, he announced that he was a Christian after all and went to his death proudly. Make it a point to find a few faithful people to associate with, to become friends with, and see your faith grow. Join the Knights, the Ladies Guild, the Saint Joseph Society; make a Cursillo. Don’t be alone in your faith. And while there are exemplary married couples who strengthen each other, it’s still a good idea to look to people of the same sex to help you grow in faith. After all, our very souls are stamped male or female, and my wife will never understand what it means to be a male Christian, and vice-versa.
Second, Thomas recognized Jesus not because of his face or his voice. We learn from all the appearances of Jesus that there was something mysterious about him. Mary Magdalene didn’t recognize him at first; when he first appeared to the apostles, they thought he was a ghost. There on the shore of the lake, it took a while before the beloved disciple shouted out, “It is the Lord!” And Peter jumped in the water, clothing and all, to get to his side. And don’t forget the disciples going home to Emmaus. In all the appearances we see that initially he is not recognized, then he does something that makes them recognize him. He simply called Mary by her name; he ate fish in front of his disciples; he broke bread in that home in Emmaus; he prepared a meal on the shore of the lake. Thomas recognizes Jesus when he sees the wounds of the crucifixion. I think we can conclude that the glorified body of Jesus still bears those wounds. And maybe when Jesus moves among us we need to look for wounds; you and I need to look for him especially among those who are wounded—physically, psychologically, socially, or even spiritually—and our chances of encountering him will go up substantially.
So on this Mercy Sunday, let’s not give up on encountering Jesus. Let Saint Thomas the apostle lead the way.
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