Prove It
Thomas gets a bit of a raw deal. He is known as the doubter — but go back to what he said when the disciples were about to walk back into danger. A reflection on John 20:24–29.
John 20:24–29
Phrases that spoke to me today:
• unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails
• my Lord and my God
• do not disbelieve, but believe
• blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed
Applying the Word to My Life:
Thomas gets a bit of a raw deal — he is known as the doubter. This is the reading many people hold up to show his lack of faith. But go back a few chapters, to when Jesus announced they would return to Jerusalem to raise Lazarus from the dead. The disciples knew what had happened the last time they were there. Thomas was the one who said it out loud — they tried to kill us the last time we were there. And then he said: let us go to die with him.
That is not a doubter. That is the most honest man in the room.
After the resurrection, the other disciples told Thomas they had seen the Lord. It was an incredible story and Thomas wanted some evidence to back it up. What he asked for wasn't unreasonable. He didn't say it was impossible. He said he needed to see it for himself — the wounds, the hands, the side. He needed the encounter to be firsthand.
Most of us have run some version of the same test. How many times have we prayed "God, if you are real, just do this one thing"? We may not say it as plainly as Thomas did, but we have all been Thomas. That doubt isn't fatal — it gives the space for grace to work.
Peter's doubt gave Christ the opportunity to save him in the water. Thomas's doubt gives Jesus the chance to speak to all of us in those moments when faith seems just too incredible to be true. Jesus came back. He came specifically for Thomas — knew exactly what Thomas had asked for and offered exactly that.
There is no record that Thomas touched anything. He just saw, and that was enough. What came out of his mouth was the fullest confession in the gospel: my Lord and my God. A full confession of faith in five simple words.
The Eucharist is one of the places where faith can seem the most incredible to me. When the priest raises the consecrated bread and wine at Mass, there are days I look and I cannot see it. I know in my mind that Christ is there, but it looks like bread and wine. A long time ago I started praying Thomas's words at that moment: my Lord and my God. Some days I feel it in my heart. Other days it just reminds me of what is happening even when I cannot feel it.
The prayer works on both kinds of days. That is what faith looks like when the feeling isn't there — you speak the truth, even when you cannot feel it yet.
That kind of faith reveals its true power when it goes beyond the altar. On the good days, Christ's presence in others is easy to see. Easy to serve. The hard days are different. Those are the Thomas days — the days I need to encounter everyone with that prayer ready, trusting that the encounter is real whether I can feel it or not.
My Response for Today:
Today I will reflect on one time where I couldn't feel Christ's presence and offer that moment back to him.