Throughout this past week, in the scripture of our daily Mass, we have heard about Jesus’ post resurrection appearances – at the tomb, on the road to Emmaus, at the Sea of Tiberius, and in the “upper room” in Jerusalem. In the gospel of today’s Mass, we go back to the upper room and witness Jesus’ encounter with “doubting” Thomas, the apostle who would not believe in Jesus’ resurrection until he could place his hands on Jesus’ wounds (John 20:19-31).
Typically, this encounter between Jesus and Thomas is interpreted with an emphasis on Thomas’ lack of faith in Jesus – his inability to “believe without seeing”. For some, this interpretation might be a bit troubling as it seemingly makes a judgement about those of us whose faith in the “unseen” Jesus might not be as strong as others, or whose trust in God might waiver depending on what life throws at us.
But there is another way to look at this encounter between Jesus and Thomas.
Rather than focusing on Thomas and his unbelief, we might put the focus where it belongs – on Jesus. We remind ourselves that it is Jesus, our Risen Christ, who is always reaching out to “meet us”, just as he did for Thomas. We remind ourselves that it is Jesus who rolls away the stone and breaks out of the tomb. It is Jesus who passes through the locked door of the upper room. It is Jesus who penetrates Thomas’ disbelief. As we reflect on this encounter between Jesus and Thomas, we can choose to emphasize, not Thomas’ lack of faith in Jesus, but Jesus’ unwavering faith in Thomas. We can choose to emphasize, not Thomas’ distrust and stubbornness, but Jesus’ willingness to reach out to Thomas and Jesus’ ability to penetrate Thomas’ heart and mind.
And it can be the same for us.
Like he did for Thomas, Jesus has faith in each one of us, even when our faith in him waivers. Like he did for Thomas, Jesus is always willing to reach out to us, even in our hesitation and doubt, even in our distrust and stubbornness, in order to penetrate our hearts and minds. Jesus is always looking to meet us and draw us into relationship, and he will go to great lengths to make that happen. Indeed, Jesus makes himself present to us in order to aid us in our disbelief, to assist us when our trust waivers, and to empower us to live as faithful disciples. Jesus does all this with compassion for our weakness, and patience as we grow in faith. Jesus does all this because he loves us.
So, on this Divine Mercy Sunday, instead of reading this encounter between Jesus and Thomas as a story of human doubt and wavering faith, we can read it as a story of God’s love and mercy, a love extended to all of us, a mercy that will always trump any human doubt or unfaithfulness. We take to heart the words of Pope Francis: “Truly, God’s love and mercy is forever, it never ends, it never runs out, it never tires, it never gives up even when faced with closed doors. God remains with us forever.” Confident of this, we continue onward with our hearts and minds open to meet the Risen Christ wherever he chooses to meet us.