St. Thomas the Apostle

The Incredulity of St. Thomas
by Carrvagio

 Most of us think of St. Thomas as the doubting apostle, the one who had to see the pierced hands and feet of Jesus and touch His side before he would believe in the Resurrection, but what we often forget is that after hearing of Christ's plan to return to Judea where Christ was nearly killed, he told the other apostles,"Let us also go [to Lazarus' house] that we may die with him." ( John11:16) This passage depicts the courage and the strong faith of St. Thomas.

 The reality is that  Thomas sought the truth and found it in Jesus Christ. The disciple who initially questioned and then doubted without the evidence of his senses became the only one to make a full confession of faith in Christ's divinity. Thomas was the sole witness of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and baptized the magi who traveled to Bethlehem after the birth of Christ.

St. Thomas was the only apostle to carry the Gospel message beyond the bounds of the Roman Empire. On his 3,500 mile evangelization journey,  tradition tells us that Thomas went to preach to the Parthians, one of those many nations whose people heard and understood the disciples, in what is now Iran.  He also reportedly went to southern India to preach, where he established seven churches. Currently, there are 3.6 million members in the Eastern Catholic Church there (the Syro-Malabar Catholics), who claim that their church originated from these early church communities. In the year 72, Thomas was stabbed with lances and stoned, a martyr for the faith. 

Thus, in spite of and, perhaps, because of his initial doubt, Thomas stands out as a strong model of courage and faith in zealously bringing the light of Christ into a darkened world.

Patronage

Saint Thomas is the patron of architects, builders, carpenters, masons, geometricians, theologians (Roeder), surveyors, blind people (due to his occasional spiritual blindness), people in doubt, India and Pakistan.
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Comments

  1. Elizabeth Mahlou7/3/10, 5:50 PM

    St. Thomas is one of my favorites; I relate to him.

    Have a happy Fourth!

    ReplyDelete

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