My Lord and my God . . .

CARAVAGGIO
The Incredulity of Saint Thomas
1601-02

My Lord and my God . . .

Poor St. Thomas! He will forever be known as "Doubting Thomas", the Apostle lacking in faith. And yet he provides some inspiration to all of us who look for confirmation of "reality" from the substance of the real world in which we have placed our confidence. Thomas has the persistence to ask for that confirmation and our Lord provides it to him and to all of us who follow after him that we too might fall to our knees and exclaim, "My Lord and my God!"

This was the opportunity for Jesus to state, "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed." That is, after all, the definition of faith; to believe the truth of something without empirical evidence. This capacity of "knowing" the truth without good evidence of it as provided by the senses is a blessing from God. It is a grace that we receive when we reach out to Him. It is a gift that we must continually seek as it is gifted to us incrementally over time. As we mature our faith must also mature. 

The simple faith of a child is beautiful but it will be challenged by the complexities of the world as the child approaches the life of an adult. To withstand these assaults, faith must remain simple and unqualified. But it must also be bolstered by the necessary graces to understand and trust how this faith commingles with the confusing and profane nature of the world that is so demanding of our attention. How do we remain true to our faith and be the "light of the world" even as our surroundings seem to dissipate and even suffocate the truth? 

The remedy for this, I believe, can be found in the subject of this Divine Mercy Sunday. Ponder the image of our loving and merciful Lord offering to each one of us the infinite measure of His graces. Bathe in the rays of light and warmth that emanate from Him. Listen to Him as He gently asks you to, "Trust in me." This is exactly the grace that we have been seeking. We don't even really know what to ask for. But He knows what we need and He wants to provide for us in abundance. Therefore let us seek to be docile and have the faith to trust completely in Him. When we have attained possession of that level of faith, we will find that we have become a more perfect reflection of Him and truly be at peace with the world even as we become its light.