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By Fr. Joseph M. Esper, Catholic Exchange, Aug. 24, 2023
Fr. Joseph Esper studied at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit and at St. John’s Provincial Seminary in Plymouth, Michigan. He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit in 1982. …
This article is adapted from a chapter in Fr. Esper’s book, Saintly Solutions to Life’s Common Problems, available from Sophia Institute Press.
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe. ~John 20:29
St. Thomas the Apostle may have received a bad rap: everyone remembers him for doubting the other Apostles’ excited report that they had seen the risen Lord (John 20:24-25), but we usually overlook his earlier willingness to die for Jesus (John 11:16) and his later missionary activity and his death as a martyr.
Indeed, far more important than Thomas’s initial difficulty in believing was his proclamation of faith: “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28) Moreover, Thomas’s doubts actually fulfilled God’s plan. St. Gregory the Great writes,
“Do you really believe that it was by chance that this chosen disciple was absent, then came and heard, heard and doubted, doubted and touched, touched and believed? It was not by chance, but in God’s Providence. In a marvelous way, God’s mercy arranged that the disbelieving disciple, in touching the wounds of his Master’s body, should heal our wounds of disbelief. The disbelief of Thomas has done more for our faith than the faith of the other disciples. As he touches Christ and is won over to belief, every doubt is cast aside, and our faith is strengthened. So the disciple who doubted, then felt Christ’s wounds, becomes a witness to the reality of the Resurrection.” ….
