Show Notes
Those moments of doubt when it comes to faith... they aren't something to be ashamed of, but rather something that is meant to strengthen your relationship with God.
Gospel: Jn 20:19-31
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Episode Transcript
The Lord be with you. And with your Spirit.
A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to John. Glory to you, O Lord.
On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
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.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”
Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve,
was not with them when Jesus came.
So the other disciples said to 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 into the nailmarks
and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
Now a week later his disciples were again inside
and Thomas was with them.
Jesus came, although the doors were locked,
and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands,
and bring your hand and put it into my side,
and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”
Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”
Now, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples
that are not written in this book.
But these are written that you may come to believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that through this belief you may have life in his name.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
As human beings, we have certain experiences or events that happen in our lives. That are beyond our ability to see that anything good could ever become of them. They are just so horrific. That we see them as beyond meaningless to just terrible. And whenever you get to a point where you start to feel that way, I suggest: look at the cross. Because outside of the eyes of faith, the cross can seem to be so horrific that absolutely nothing good could ever come of it. Yet God can take even the most horrific things. And turn them into things that are life giving and full of grace. Including events and moments in our lives.
And one of the kind of bucket list things I've always had that I'd like to do someday. Is to learn to do some blacksmithing. I've always been fascinated by taking the raw material of steel and turning into something useful. And one of the things that blacksmiths do is they take new steel that is brittle and weak. And by tempering it, turned it into something that is strong and resilient and powerful. They do that by rapidly heating and cooling it multiple times to make it strong. Well, I've come to believe that those moments in our lives where our faith is weak and full of doubt, where it's much like Thomas, those moments can actually be great moments for our faith. Because they temper it, they allow us to get bit by bit stronger and the way God does that is by pouring grace into us when we are most weak, when we are most doubtful and shaken.
And for me, those events happen quite often. When I wonder, is this all really true? Should I keep my faith? Should I stay believing in these things? God always does it through the actions of another. By the kind word or the gentle hug. By the helpful nature and love of other people. God takes me when I'm at my weakest and full of the most doubt. And makes my faith stronger. Makes his presence known to me much in the same way, he told Thomas. Feel the marks in my hands. Put your hand into my side. That's how he does it for me. Through the love of others. And if we truly believe. The thing we have all said, God is love. Then we can also believe that love is God, that unconditional love that we receive from another. That's God's presence, acting in our lives. And those are the kind of moments and events that, for me, and perhaps for you. Always make my faith stronger when it is weak, taking those moments that. Seemingly can't be good for me. And always make my faith stronger and better.
