Feast of Dukhrana, a Meditational thought on the aspect of Faith

My Lord and My God (Jn 20; 28)

Well, this is what came out from the mouth of St. Thomas the Apostle when he saw the Risen Lord. It might well be an exclamation of over joy or it could be an exclamation of deep sorry. If it was a joyful exclamation, the joy came from his deep feelings for Jesus. And if exclamation of sorrow, then that would surely for his 'doubting behavior.?

When everyone else could see the Lord after his resurrection, how could St. Thomas spare himself from without seeing his Lord. Was he not a good disciple? Nowhere in the Holy Bible we see that he was an unfaithful or wicked one. (In fact, any of the disciples except Judas Iscariot was described in a negative way and the lone negative statement Jesus made about his eleven disciples was about Peter whom he called 'Satan'. You know the occasion as well).

There are mainly three occasions in which we see St. Thomas, The Apostle in the Bible. The first occasion is Lazarus' death. By stating "let us also go that we may die with Him" (Jn 11; 16), Thomas showed how courageous he was. He was even ready to die with Jesus whom he loved so deep.

His second role was described at the time when Jesus appears first to his 11 disciples after the crucifiction and death. In this incident we do not see Thomas but only feel his absence. In Bible we read Thomas was not with the eleven when Jesus appeared. (Jn. 20: 24)

Where was Thomas? Was he not afraid to go out leaving all the others in a safe shelter. (Reading the paragraph you will see that the disciples were afraid and were hiding themselves behind the doors. It reads the doors were shut when Jesus appeared.) This attitude of St. Thomas shows that he gave priority to his fellowmen than he gave for himself.

Now once again let us revise. In the first occasion we see Thomas giving upper hand to Jesus than he gave for himself. Secondly he gives importance to his fellowmen and not for himself. Reading these two together I always feel that Thomas completed the Two Greater Commandments - 'Love your God with all your heart, all your mind, all your strength and all your body (Mk. - 12: 30)....' and 'Love your neighbor as yourself (Mk. 12:31).'

If he was so keen in following the Commandments, why Jesus did not appear in front of him? It was a question that came to my mind. Was there anything ungodly with Thomas? No way, no chance at all. I believe that it was only to make others how deep faith Thomas had that Jesus did this 'drama'. (I would certainly call it a drama as this incident has all elements of drama. It was well written, directed and executed by Jesus and the result was so superb too.)

It did end in a really fantastic way as Thomas shouted- "My Lord, My God." It was the answer Jesus too wanted probably or I believe Jesus to demand such an answer. Luckily as followers of St Thomas, we are lucky to have him as our Father of Faith. But I am really concerned whether we are really faithful.

At the end of the paragraph Jesus sums up "Those who believe without seeing are more blessed." In that way we are to be more blessed because we have not seen Jesus yet we believe in Him. But just ponder whether your faith is good enough for a Christian.

Many wonders are taking place across the globe in Jesus' name. Just reach a retreat center and see how many miraculous healings, and other miracles are happening there. Are our eyes not able to see them? No, we see them and hear about them. Still our faith is not so deep but shattered. Let us take a good decision on this Feast of Dukhrana that we will pray to Jesus to increase our faith.