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| "Doubting Thomas" by Bernardo Strozzi (ca 1620) |
History
Saint Thomas was one of the 12 Apostles that Jesus called. After Jesus rose from the dead, He appeared to many of the Apostles, but Thomas wasn’t there. He had trouble believing that the other Apostles had truly seen the Lord, which is where we get the term, “Doubting Thomas.” He said he would need to put his fingers in the holes of Jesus’ hands and his hand into the hole in Jesus' side before he would believe it. Eight days later, Jesus appeared to the Apostles again and called Thomas over to touch His wounds. Then Thomas believed and cried out, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said that Thomas was blessed for believing in what he had seen, but other people would be blessed for believing in what they could not see.
Activity
Talk about how we can’t see Jesus with our eyes or put our fingers in the nail holes of his hands, but we can still believe in Him because we know He is real. As a family, practice saying, “My Lord and My God!” and remember to pray this at the consecration during every Mass, when the priest holds the Eucharist above his head. Then, give each of the children a Saint Thomas coloring page to decorate and hang in their bedrooms as a reminder that we can believe in what we can’t see with our eyes.
Saint Thomas, pray for us!
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