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Join us as we reflect, ponder, and pray together inspired by today's Gospel.

Today's Gospel: Divine Mercy Sunday - John 20:19-31

 

Thomas was only asking for what all the other apostles got.

We like to give poor Thomas a bad rap for his insistence on proof… but Jesus has already provided that exact proof to the other apostles. He showed them His hands and His side. Was it really so wrong for Thomas to want the same blessed assurance?

Fairness (I tell my children over and over until I am out of breath) does not mean everyone gets the same thing. It means everyone gets what she or he needs.

Jesus entrusted a mission of evangelization to all of His apostles, of course. But He entrusted each of them with a slightly different variant of that mission, one tailored both to their gifts and to their weaknesses. He gave each one what He needed. What He asked of Thomas, then, was slightly different than what He asked of the rest. A willingness to trust, a suspension of disbelief, a faith-without-seeing: that is what Jesus needed from Thomas, and it’s also what Thomas needed from Jesus.

We - in our modern society at a 2000-year remove from these historical events - are going to have to take Thomas’ part here. That’s what makes this story so compelling. Nearly all of Church history has happened in the long, long years since the scant few days Jesus walked the earth post-Resurrection. Jesus isn't around for us to poke our fingers into.

Jesus knew what Thomas needed to become a more effective evangelist. He knew that we would need a Thomas to show us how to fashion a faith out of the testimony of fellow believers and out of our intimate knowledge of God’s truth.

He is who He says He is. He does what He says He will… even beyond death.

 

Ponder:

 

Do you rejoice when you witness the Lord at work in your life? Or do you sit back and wait for more proof?

 

Pray:


Lord, help me to trust Your work in my life without demanding more evidence. Show me the work You have set apart especially for me to do for Your kingdom.

 

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Jesus knew we would need a Thomas to show us how to fashion a faith out of the testimony of fellow believers and out of our intimate knowledge of God’s truth. #dailygospel

 

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Copyright 2021 Christy Wilkens

About the Author

Christy Wilkens

Christy Wilkens

Christy Wilkens, wife and mother of six, is an armchair philosopher who lives in Austin, TX. She writes at FaithfulNotSuccessful.com about disability, faith, doubt, suffering, community, and good reads. Her first book, Awakening at Lourdes: How an Unanswered Prayer Healed Our Family and Restored Our Faith, a memoir about a pilgrimage with her husband and son, will be released by Ave Maria Press in 2021.