Reflection From

Fr. Davis

April 27, 2025

Happy Easter!! Yes; today we conclude Eastertide, the 8-day Octave of Easter, now launching us into a continuation of the celebration of Easter joy all the way until Pentecost Sunday. For the next several weeks we will be considering and pondering many of the implications of Resurrection-faith during the beautiful liturgical season of Easter.

This weekend, for example, on which we mark Divine Mercy Sunday, the liturgical assembly is aptly presented with the Gospel account of the "Doubting Thomas." In the face of many possible reactions to the reality of the Resurrection, Christ's post-Resurrection appearance to the Apostles in the locked room where they were, was concrete, visual and sensate evidence for the mind-boggling experience of the Risen Christ to the Apostles. Reflecting the power and mercy of God, this event was vividly recalled by the preaching of the Apostles to the early Christian community, and later recorded in the canonical Scriptures, whose account we hear this weekend. This Gospel passage speaks of the Risen Christ alive in their midst. It speaks of the mercy of God bringing spiritual gifts and assurance to his people. It also speaks of the mystery of faith, even in the face of doubt. "Thomas: you believe because you have seen; blessed are they who have not seen and yet still believe!"

At the Vatican Museum in Rome, there is the beautiful Guercino depiction of the "Doubting Thomas," showing the Apostle approaching the Risen Christ with insecure and uncertain faith, seeking to probe the wound in Christ's side, caused on Good Friday by the soldier's lance. I have always been struck by this image. I have always been struck by the reality in all of our lives of the mystery of doubt and faith. Truthfully, we shouldn't be so hard on poor Saint Thomas. His experience is often the paradigm for each of us on the Christian journey of faith. We have our questions. We have our doubts. But, our challenge is to resolve the doubts through faith seeking understanding. From a posture of faith to doubt to faith again, as we cooperate with the grace of the Risen One, we are meant to be on a crescendo to a more profound relationship with Christ.

The most famous artistic rendition of Thomas' encounter with the Risen Christ is the one painted by the artist Caravaggio (c. 1601-1602 ad), currently on display in the Sanssouci Gallery in Germany. This rendition is entitled, "The Incredulity of Thomas." It shows the stolid doubter carefully prodding with his index finger the wound in Christ's side. The Lord's identity is seemingly not questioned at all, yet the painter captures how Thomas is fascinated by the wound as a tangible phenomenon, physical evidence of Christ's existence in their corporeal world, though he is no longer a part of it in that way. Christ comes to the Apostles in his Resurrection appearance as a man made of flesh and blood, rather than a disembodied spirit, so that the Lord's Resurrection is apprehended in human literal terms, making the apparition of Christ to the Apostles all the more miraculous. It would be well worth going on-line and looking up this image, as an assist to prayerful reflection on the mystery of the Resurrection. Sacred art, which is surely the fruit of deep prayer and reflection, is an inspiration to us all to grasp more deeply the mysteries of our Catholic faith.

The Apostolic preaching, the communal liturgies of the early church, the early pilgrimages to the holy sites of our Lord's earthly life, the Canonical Scriptures, the action of the Holy Spirit on people's hearts and lives, the virtuous convictions of people of faith, the service and generosity of God's people, the emerging organizational structure of a very influential Church, the many ecclesial ministries, the lives of the Saints, vibrant parishes where sacraments are fervently celebrated, and even sacred art and architecture provide wonderful supports to our faith in the Resurrection of Christ. May this Easter season help us to join Saint Thomas in moving from faith to doubt to faith again, on a crescendo to a more profound relationship with Christ.

Father Davis

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