Low Sunday – April 8, 2018

The Gospel reading about the appearance of our Lord to St. Thomas can lead us to focus more on the apostle’s doubt. “Doubting Thomas”, we often call him. We tend to think of Thomas as a rationalist, who carefully weighs evidence. But is this a real basis of his doubt? Perhaps Thomas doesn’t in fact doubt that Christ could rise from the dead; but he can’t believe that he would. He had seen Jesus’ miracles. He had seen Lazarus raised from the dead, as we are told in this same Gospel. Thomas also seems to be the one who recognizes that Jesus is truly God. Why would Jesus return to them? Why would He return to a world that not only rejected Him but put Him to death? To believe that Jesus is risen is to believe that He has forgiven us. Thomas doubts the resurrection because he doubts God’s mercy. To accept mercy requires faith, which is why it is so hard to forgive by human powers. Thomas finally understands that God is too great to be merciless. How do you convince someone that they are forgiven, when you and they are not really sure? To truly forgive and to truly accept forgiveness requires faith, as Jesus points out.