Today we celebrate St Thomas the Apostle.
And poor Thomas has acquired a reputation that is probably a little unfair.
Even people who know very little about Christianity know the expression:
“Doubting Thomas.”
As though Thomas’s entire life could be reduced to one moment of uncertainty.
Yet when we look carefully at the Gospel, we discover something much more impressive.
Not a doubter.
But a man who loved Christ enough to want certainty.
And a man whose faith, once restored, became one of the strongest in the New Testament.
The disciples tell Thomas:
“We have seen the Lord.”
But Thomas cannot believe it.
Not yet.
The crucifixion has shattered everything.
His hopes.
His expectations.
His future.
The man he had followed for three years had been publicly executed.
And now people are speaking about resurrection.
It sounds impossible.
So Thomas says:
“Unless I see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.”
Many people hear those words and think Thomas is being stubborn.
But perhaps there is something deeper.
Thomas is not asking for a theory.
He is asking for Christ Himself.
He does not want second-hand faith.
He wants to encounter the risen Lord.
And eight days later, that is exactly what happens.
Jesus appears.
He comes directly to Thomas.
And notice what He does not do.
He does not humiliate him.
He does not mock him.
He does not reject him.
Instead He invites him.
“Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side.”
The risen Christ still bears His wounds.
The wounds have not disappeared.
They have been transformed.
The marks of suffering have become signs of victory.
The Cross has become the doorway to glory.
And then comes one of the most beautiful confessions of faith in the entire Gospel.
Thomas falls before Jesus and says:
“My Lord and my God!”
Not merely “Teacher.”
Not merely “Master.”
Not merely “Messiah.”
“My Lord and my God.”
It is the clearest declaration of Christ’s divinity anywhere in the Gospels.
The man remembered for doubting ends by making one of the greatest acts of faith.
And perhaps that is why the Church honours him so highly.
Because Thomas represents many of us.
Most of us have experienced moments of uncertainty.
Moments when God seems distant.
Moments when questions arise.
Moments when faith feels difficult.
The answer is not to pretend those struggles do not exist.
The answer is to bring them to Christ.
Thomas remained with the apostles.
Thomas remained within the community of believers.
And eventually he encountered the risen Lord.
The first reading gives us another important image.
St Paul says that we are:
“Built upon the foundations of the apostles and prophets.”
The Church is not built on private opinions.
Not on passing fashions.
Not on individual feelings.
It is built upon the apostolic faith.
The faith handed down from the apostles.
The faith preached by Thomas.
The faith for which the apostles gave their lives.
Tradition tells us that Thomas travelled far beyond the Roman Empire, eventually reaching India.
The man who once hesitated to believe became a missionary willing to cross continents for Christ.
The man who once demanded proof became a martyr who gave his life for the Gospel.
That is what grace can do.
It can transform weakness into strength.
Fear into courage.
Doubt into faith.
And perhaps there is one final lesson.
Jesus says:
“Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.”
That is us.
We have not seen the risen Christ with our physical eyes.
We have not touched His wounds as Thomas did.
Yet we are invited into the same faith.
The same relationship.
The same friendship with Christ.
Indeed, in one sense we possess something Thomas did not yet possess.
The Eucharist.
The living presence of Christ among His people.
The Lord whom Thomas touched is the same Lord who comes to us in Holy Communion.
The same Lord whom Thomas worshipped is the Lord who is present on our altar.
And so today we ask the prayers of St Thomas.
That when faith is difficult, we may persevere.
When questions arise, we may seek Christ.
When doubts trouble us, we may remain close to the Church.
And that one day we may make his words our own with complete conviction:
“My Lord and my God.”
St. Mary's, St. John Bosco and St. Edward's 