Power in our doubting twin

The feast of the Apostle Thomas is celebrated by the Church today and the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary includes the passage from the Gospel of John which is the basis for the tag on this person of “doubting Thomas”. Father Larry Gillick SJ takes up the cause for Thomas and reflects on the decision of the Evangelist John to include this encounter with Jesus in the Gospel. Certainly comparison of our situation to that of Thomas is a fruitful exercise and it is important to add the biographic and environmental details of the life of this saint. Friar Jude Winkler associates Thomas with one of the few proclamations in the Christian Testament of the Divinity of Jesus. The acclamation “My Lord and my God” in the mouth of Thomas in the Gospel identifies Jesus as identical to Yahweh and more than the Anointed One. This revelation and faith statement was a step which, as Friar Jude explains, which left behind all the intellectual analysis and speculation about the Way which Jesus had previously invited Thomas to follow. The capstone experience of the “doubting Thomas” was the propelling event which had him take his place as on the the Apostles making the foundation of the the Church, a structure which Paul writes to the Ephesians has Christ as its capstone and is built and continues to build on a history in time and space in a rich Tradition based on the faith experiences of real people like Thomas.