St. Thomas was the bravest of the Apostles.

Friday, 7/3/15

Today is the feast of St. Thomas, the Apostle. The Church pulls a dirty trick on Thomas on his feast day when they chose a Gospel that pictures him only as Doubting Thomas.

The First Reading gives him more of what is his due. It pictures our Church as having been built on the foundation of the Apostles. A century after the death of the Apostles, St. Irenaeus wrote that the only way to find true Christian teaching was to find what was taught in the churches founded by the Apostles.

That is very important where I live. With St. Matthew’s parish to the north of me, and Sacred Heart parish to the south of me, I am living between two parishes that have pastors from Kerala India. That is where the church was founded by Thomas the Apostle.

What’s more, Thomas was the bravest and most loyal of the Apostles. When Jesus announced that he was going to Bethany to see the dying Lazarus, the other Apostles were saying Jesus could not go over close to Jerusalem where the people there planning to kill Jesus.

Thomas was the only brave apostle. He said, “Let’s go over and die with him.” That’s  my Thomas!