Blessed are those who believe

July 3

Gospel

John 20:24-29

'My Lord and my God!'

Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. When the disciples said, ‘We have seen the Lord’, he answered, ‘Unless I see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.’ Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them. ‘Peace be with you’ he said. Then he spoke to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side. Doubt no longer but believe.’ Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him:

‘You believe because you can see me.

Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.’

Reflection

In Thomas’s doubt, there is a tenderness in Jesus’s invitation to touch and see. Belief is not the absence of yearning but the presence of faith meeting evidence with trust. Jesus meets Thomas in his need, turning uncertainty into confession: “My Lord and my God!” Our own faith deepens when we acknowledge both the gift of grace and the reality we seek to know more fully. May we welcome the humbling path from doubt to belief, and may our encounters with the risen Christ sustain a hopeful, persevering faith.

Reflection Question

- How does Thomas’s journey from doubt to belief speak to the moments in your life when you long to see and understand more of God?

Prayer

Loving Jesus, giver of peace, thank you for meeting us where we are—whether in quiet faith or tender doubt. Help us move from seeking signs to resting in your presence. Strengthen our belief, deepen our hope, and open our hearts to your truth that we may proclaim you as Lord and God with growing joy. Amen.

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