The Holy and Glorious Apostle Thomas
Polyeleos Feast
1 Corinthians 4:9-16; John 20:19-31
Read 1 Corinthians 4:9-16
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Today the Church celebrates and keeps the memory of the Holy and Glorious Apostle Thomas who was one of the twelve and is best known for his doubting of Christ’s bodily resurrection.
It seems preposterous that Jesus Christ would choose the men that He chose as His apostles to carry out His mission of spreading the Good News to the ends of the world. These men were simple; they were not knowledgeable in the Scriptures like the Pharisees and by all accounts, they were not prominent or well known. Yet Christ chooses them and equips them for the apostolic work, knowing that they would embrace their vocation.
In embracing their vocation, they became a “spectacle to the world” as St. Paul points out in today’s epistle reading. At first glance, their apostolic work appears ridiculous to the masses. Yet, it is in embracing the counter-cultural call to preach the Gospel and all that it brings, including mockery and eventually martyrdom, that brings them closer to our Lord in this life and in the next. The apostles were not equipped to spread the message of the Gospel on their own. Christ, in choosing them, prepares and equips them for this beautiful vocation.
Just as St. Paul urges the Corinthians to imitate him we too should imitate St. Paul and all the apostles in the fervency of their faith in spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. He will prepare and equip us as His apostles to continue the work of proclaiming the Gospel.
Holy Apostle Thomas, pray to God for us!