Tuesday, April 25, 2017

HOMILY for April 23, 2017: 2nd Sunday of Easter, Cycle A


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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!

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