John 20: 19-31
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
I too am Thomas
“Unless I … put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
If, like Thomas, you need to touch the wounds of Christ as proof that our Savior lives, then go volunteer. Work with any minority group wounded by injustice (as Christ’s wounds were given to him out of injustice); work with those wounded by slander, those wrongfully accused (as the chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin falsely testified against Jesus in order to convict him); work with those who hunger and thirst (as Christ himself, while on the cross, exclaimed, “I thirst.”).
And to prepare for this divine engagement, pray for trust, for trust drives out doubt; pray for faith, for faith drives out fear; pray to believe, for belief drives out uncertainty. And on top of it all, pray for mercy, for the sake of his sorrowful Passion.
—Fr. Aaron Malnick, SJ, is a vocation promoter for the Midwest Jesuits and author of Poems to Retreat By: Praying with the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola. For information on Jesuit life, visit beajesuit.org.
Prayer
“I do believe, help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)
Jesus, it can be easier to believe in you when my life is running smoothly; harder, when things are rocky. Help me come to you and serve you always; in the ups and downs, smiles and cries, hills and valleys. Increase my faith and help me to manifest that faith every day of my life. Jesus, I trust in you.
—Fr. Aaron Malnick, SJ
Pray with the Pope
The Holy Father’s Monthly Prayer Intentions Brought to you by Apostleship of Prayer the first Friday of each month.