with St Francis de Sales
“Thomas said, ‘If I don’t put my hand in his side, I won’t believe!'”
John 20:19-31
Sermon of St. Francis de Sales, 21 Dec. 1622 (Works X, 409)
St. Thomas committed the great sin of infidelity; When the other Apostles saw this, they were extremely touched.
However, they did not cast the culprit out of their company, but prayed for him, and our Lord, by his ineffable mercy, came a second time, only for St. Thomas. By this he gives us proofs of the meekness with which he treats sinners, for he has two arms: one of his almighty and just justice, and the other of his mercy which goes beyond his justice.
Let us consider, I pray you, how good the Saviour is. He came into the upper room once for all the Apostles, and once for St. Thomas only, eight days after his Resurrection, when they were all assembled; and addressing Thomas alone, he said to him, “You will not believe; Here, touch, for the spirit has neither flesh nor bones.” So he put his fingers in the scars of his Savior.
But what do you think this good Saint did? Certainly, there is no doubt that when he had touched it, he felt a great divine warmth, especially when he touched that sacred heart, all burning with love. Then he was astonished and exclaimed, “My Lord and my God! And at the same time he was changed and made faithful, so that he was a preacher of the faith like the other Apostles; And after having labored greatly for it, he died in the end for that same faith.
Our good Saviour answered him: “Thomas, you have believed because you have seen, but blessed are they who believe and do not see,” because his divine goodness had us all present, those of us who are in his Church, which originated from the little group of the Apostles. What we know of the mysteries of our faith they taught us, although their faith was then imperfect because they had not yet received the Spirit. Here on earth we need faith, but in heaven we will no longer need it. Faith is a great gift from God.