The unbelieving Thomas

We have often heard the saying that our Christian faith is based on the Apostles. Not on their faith, but on what they saw and heard.

They had heard Jesus's teachings several times throughout the three years of his public life, and they saw with their eyes the extraordinary things he had done, especially his raisings from death and many other miracles.

But even this did not seem to be enough, and there were times when the faith of some of them seemed to falter. It was only when Jesus had risen from the dead that they became confirmed in their faith in him and could henceforth be the foundation for other peoples' faith in Jesus Christ.

In today's Gospel we read that, shortly after his resurrection on Easter Sunday, Jesus appears alive before the Apostles, at a time when they had begun to think that, maybe after all, it had all been a farce.

Jesus had taught the Apostles and the crowds many marvellous things but, like everyone else, he died. Was it all finished? How about all his promises that all those who would believe in him would enter eternal life?

Jesus had said on quite a few occasions that, after being betrayed and crucified, he would rise again. Was it just pretence or wishful thinking?

While they were staying under a safe shelter, crying over their own credulity during the three whole years they had wasted with him, all of a sudden the impossible happened: Jesus was in the midst of them, alive!

At that moment and from then on they believed in him and in everything he had said and taught. They thus became authentic witnesses of the living Christ and could go around full of courage preaching his message for the salvation of all.

The central figure in today's Gospel, however, is Thomas, one of the 12. He was not with them when the Lord stood in their midst alive and therefore he could not believe them.

It is, after all, too much to believe that a dead person, who had died and was buried, has come back to life. "Unless I see what you 'say' you have seen, I will not believe!"

With the rest of the story we are familiar enough. Jesus appears a second time while Thomas was present, and then he addressed these words to Thomas: "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe!"

Thomas got the brunt of it all and has remained to this day (somewhat unjustly, perhaps) a symbol of all those who find it hard to believe. Having seen the Risen Jesus with his own eyes, Thomas has now the best credentials to be, like his fellow apostles, a fully accredited witness of Our Lord's Resurrection from the dead.

That is why the Apostles are referred to as the foundation for our Christian faith. We believe not because we have "seen" like the Apostles, but because we 'accept' the testimony of those who have seen.

Hence, we can apply to ourselves as Christians the words pronounced to Thomas by Jesus: "Blessed are those who believe, although they have not seen!"

Not for nothing the Christian Community even today is referred to as the community of the faithful. The Apostles' mission to be witnesses of Christ's resurrection continues in each one of us as Christians.

The world of the 20th century is becoming more and more dependent on what can be seen, touched and measured. In the long run, however, we realise that it is what we accept by divine faith that gives us the best guarantee of its truth.