Homily Thirteenth Friday of Ordinary Time (Feast of St. Thomas)
Homily Thirteenth Friday of Ordinary Time (Feast of St. Thomas)
I once talked to a man on the second Sunday of Easter whose name was Thomas. He said that he always disliked hearing the gospel about Thomas on Easter Sunday because he had been teased throughout this life about being “Doubting Thomas.” Whenever he would question anything, he was reminded of his name sake. The Thomas who complained to me and Saint Thomas get a bad rap.
Thomas was quick to question, but he was quick to believe. Once he saw the facts in front of him, he reacted with faith. We notice that when Jesus presents Thomas with his wounds so that he might touch them, he does not seem to do so. Instead, he falls to his knees and makes one of the deepest professions of faith in Jesus ever recorded, “My Lord and my God.”
Thomas went on from that moment to be one of the greatest missionaries in church history, according to tradition. He traveled the furthest of all the Apostles to proclaim the Gospel message. He went all the way to India and established a Christian community there. He also was a martyr for the faith.
Skepticism is not bad unless there is an unwillingness to change if new facts become available. Skeptics ought to desire truth. When they obtain it, they ought to be willing to change.
One small example of this dynamic revolves around the wearing of face masks during the pandemic. At first there was skepticism about masks stopping the spread of the virus. But then the facts proved that wearing a face mask is the best way to slow the spread of the virus. But we have people who will not be convinced by the facts. As a result, many people are becoming infected.
We need to be careful that our desire to be right does not supersede common sense. We need to be like St. Thomas and go were the truth leads.
Reflection Questions:
1. Am I skeptical about questionable things? What do I do when I learn facts that contradict what I would like to believe?
2. Thomas is a name which means twin. Do I feel like Thomas could be my brother at times?
Dear Parishioners,
This weekend we will again be having four Masses. The 4 p.m. on Saturday and the 7 a.m. Sunday and the 11 a.m. will be in church. People will need to sign up for those Masses on our website. The 9 a.m. Mass will be outside in front of Culemans Hall.
Someone asked why they needed to sign up for Masses. Why can’t we just assume that the same people will be at the same Mass each Sunday. There are two reasons we would ask you to sign up. One is that many times people do not come to the same Mass every week.
The other important reason would be that we may need to do contact tracing if someone does contract COVID and comes to a Mass. If we have a list of people that tracing can happen very easily. Everyone should be informed if they have been around someone with the Coronavirus. This one of the strategies for stopping the spread of this disease.
Hopefully, Mass sign-ups will not last forever. We will try to adjust as we move forward.
May Our Lady and all the Angels and Saints protect us all today.
Fr. Mark