PODCAST - Press sideways triangle below to
listen
2nd Sunday
of Easter, Cycle A
Retreat and Conference
Center at Bon Secours
April 23, 2017
Doubting Versus Seeking: More Than
Semantics
By (Rev.
Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Doubting
Thomas?
Over the years, I have
grown to dislike the expression doubting
Thomas.
I remember hearing this
expression even when I was a child. Adults
would call others a doubting Thomas,
if that refused to believe something, whatever it was.
Obviously, the expression doubting Thomas is based on the Gospel story
that we just heard. Thomas refuses to
believe, unless he himself sees and touches Jesus’ wounds.
But then, Thomas ends up proclaiming
one of the most beautiful professions of faith in all of Scripture. He cries out to Jesus, “My Lord and my God.”
In spite of that, our
tradition has dubbed him doubting Thomas and
looked down on him and his faith as being inferior to that of the other
disciples.
Seeking Thomas
As I said, I have grown
uncomfortable with naming him as Doubting
Thomas.
My thought is that it would
be much better to refer to him as seeking
Thomas. Thomas wasn’t closed to believing
in the risen Christ.
In fact, he wanted to
believe and he was seeking faith or
else he would not have been present with the other disciples on that second
Sunday after the Resurrection.
So I prefer to see Thomas
as a good example for all those who are seeking
to understand more about God.
Our Seeking
Today scholars of religion would
tell us that many people experience this sort of seeking on their own faith journey.
They would say that this very
seeking should really be seen as a
stage or a dimension of faith.
As I see it, persons of
faith — myself included — might be seeking
or questioning in a number of areas.
Some may have questions about the Sacrament of Reconciliation, asking
whether God also forgives us when we express sorrow for something we have done
in our own personal prayer?
Or such Seekers might question some of passages
of Scripture as in how can the image of a militant and vengeful God in the Old
Testament harmonize with the picture of God that Jesus presents?
Or Seekers may question the designation of God only as “Father.” After all, isn’t God the source and creator
of both genders and doesn’t that tell us something about the identity of God?
Or, as a final example,
those who are seeking might question the
teaching about salvation, as in how can the loving God of Jesus not welcome
into the Kingdom those who are sincerely trying to follow God’s way in paths
other than Catholicism or Christianity?
I have listened to Seekers and have heard such questions. My guess is you have also.
I would therefore suggest
that it may be better not to look upon those are seeking as in some way less or to call them “doubting Thomases.” Rather,
it may be better to see such seeking
as a stage or dimension of faith that many of us experience.
Some Recommendations
I would like to make
several recommendations about this seeking
dimension of faith.
(1) First,
we need to remember that ultimately, faith deals with mystery. God transcends us and we cannot know all
there is to know about God.
This is why in the Mass we
proclaim the “Mystery of faith.” The mystery of dying and rising to new life
and, more broadly to faith itself, as a mystery.
We cannot answer every
question in a scientific or purely rational way. We, as limited human beings, are called to
trust and even go with our intuitive sense of things.
(2) A second recommendation
is that it is important for all who are seeking
to stick with a community of faith for it was with the community that Thomas’
seeking was satisfied.
It is why Jesus intended
that his followers identify together as a community. It is why he formed us into a Church.
Jesus knew this need we’d
have for community on our journey of faith.
It comforts, supports, challenges, and always nourishes and enriches us.
(3) Finally,
I believe that we as a Church with a capital “C” need to take the approach of
Jesus in today’s gospel. He was
engaging.
He engaged Thomas. And in that very relationship within the
community of all the disciples, Thomas gets satisfaction to his seeking and
believes.
So we as big Church need to
be engaging, which means we need to be welcoming and including and respecting,
and not putting down or excluding those who are seeking.
This is the way that we as
Church can enable all who are seeking to find a peaceful and satisfying and
meaningful faith.
Conclusion
Doubting versus Seeking is more than semantics.
It is a source of new life and fulfillment!
