JESUS VISITS OUR HOME

So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” – John 20:25

Jesus visited our home for my mom’s birthday last year. We invited our parish priest, Fr. Leo Acierto, to celebrate Mass in the house because my mom was sick and could no longer go to church.
      It was touching just to see us gathered around the sala —just the priest, his assistant, Dad, Mom, my sister, her three-year-old son and me. We were seated comfortably on the sofas and celebrated Mass that way. No standing. No kneeling. Just lounging in our living room as if the family had gathered to chat and hang out.
      I had a guitar and led the small congregation in singing. Somewhere during the Mass, I couldn’t help but get misty-eyed. And when Fr. Leo raised the host and proclaimed, “This is my body which shall be given up for you,” I realized that the Lord had physically come into our home.
      It’s not always that we have that privilege. But we can see and even partake of the Lord daily through the sacrament of the Eucharist. Don’t miss your chance to see the Lord today. Though He may not physically visit your home, His presence in you will be more than enough to carry you wherever you go throughout the day. Rissa S.

REFLECTION:
Do I recognize the Lord’s presence in the Eucharist?

Thank You, Lord, for giving Yourself to us in communion. Let me not take You for granted whenever I receive Your body and Your blood.

P S A L M

Psalm 117:1, 2

R: Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.

1 Praise the LORD, all you nations; glorify him, all you peoples! (R) 2 For steadfast is his kindness for us, and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever. (R)

G O S P E L 

John 20:24-29

Thomas is the much maligned apostle of little faith. I think history has been a bit harsh in its judgment of Thomas. I like to think I would have believed on the word of the other disciples but I suspect I would have answered similarly to Thomas. What really matters is not his initial unbelief but his ultimate belief and commitment to God that then leads him to become the Apostle to India and, according to some reports, even China.

24 Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” 26 Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” 
  
my reflections
think: Let us pray that we will persevere through all things to our ultimate destiny of glory with the Lord our God.

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God’s special verse/thought for me today________________

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T O D A Y ’ S BLESSING LIST

Thank You Lord for: ____________________________________

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READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Sirach 10-13

A MAN OF DOUBT, AND YET A MAN OF FAITH

Today we honor St. Thomas the Apostle. Rather unfortunately, this saint has ever since been the “target” of negative views, because of his wellknown incredulity and skepticism. His name has even entered the English vocabulary (“doubting Thomas”) designating an incredulous or habitually doubtful person. In Thomas was a blend of hard-headed rationalism and sulking pessimism.
      And yet, “doubt isn’t the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith” (Paul Tillich). Come to think of it, perhaps St. Thomas has done more to strengthen our faith than the others. In the first place, we identify with him to some extent. In the words of the Scripture scholar Fr. Nil Guillemette: “There is a Thomas in each one of us, if only we will admit it... Thomas’ example is most opportune, for I recognize myself in him.”
      Faith, after all, always entails a risk, for it does not impose itself through experience or reasoning. Guillemette continues, “Difficult for Thomas, it is difficult for all of us; it teaches the unlikely; it also presupposes a constant going beyond oneself, for it is a growth and a progress toward Someone who will always be a stranger, who will always be surprising.”
      And so, let us not be too harsh on St. Thomas. It was he, in fact, who courageously exhorted his fellow disciples (at a moment when the prospects of a sure death together with Jesus were high and clear). “Let us also go to die with him” (John 11:16). It turns out that these words of his were prophetic, with his eventual ministry and martyrdom in far-flung India. And it was he (according to Fr. Jerome Aixala) who formulated the most complete affirmation of Christ’s nature to be found on the lips of anyone in the Gospel: “My Lord and my God!” Fr. Martin M.

REFLECTION QUESTION: We can be like Thomas in doubt. Can we be like him in faith?

Lord, help our unbelief.

St. Philip Minh, martyr, pray for us.