Wednesday 3 July 2024

Today is Wednesday 3 July, the feast of St Thomas, in the 13th week of Ordinary Time. Steffany Gretzinger sings, ‘Show me Your Face’. Moses stood on a mountain Waiting for You to pass by You put Your hand over his face So in Your Presence, he wouldn't die And all of Israel saw the glory And it shines down through the age Now You've called me To boldly seek Your Face Show me Your face, Lord Show me Your face And then gird up my legs That I might stand in this holy place Show me Your face, Lord Your power and Your grace Your power and grace I would make it to the end If I can just see Your face David knew there was something more Than the ark of Your presence In a manger Messiah was born Among kings and peasants And all of Israel saw the glory And it shines down through the age Now You've called us To boldly seek Your face Show me Your face, Lord Show me Your face And then gird up my legs That I might stand in this holy place Show me Your face, Lord Your power and Your grace Your power and grace I will make it to the end If I can just see Your face I know I will make it to the end If I can just see Your face Today’s reading is from the Gospel of John. John 20:24-29 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told 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 in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’ A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’ There is something important going on deep down inside for Thomas. In his gut there’s a scepticism about all this talk of resurrection. Maybe it’s just too good to be true? Mass hysteria? Something inside him resists a faith that is too easy, too much like a fairy-tale. Thomas had not long before experienced the trauma of Jesus’ arrest and death. If Jesus is truly risen, he must still bear the wounds of the Cross. You can’t just put something like that to one side and forget about it, can you? Do you sense those feelings in yourself too? Are there ‘dark places’ where you might still need to meet Jesus, risen from the dead? Take a look at the world you live in… places of poverty and hunger, suffering and loss. Can Jesus really be risen there? Take a moment to look at the broken places in your own life, too. What are the wounds that you need God to know about and to heal? As you listen again to the Gospel story, try to imagine Thomas’s face as he places his hands in the wounds of Jesus. This is no feel-good, happy ending – but real life out of real death. A hope so real you could base your life on it. See if you can find some spark of hope lighting up within you. Hold on to it. Let it grow. Tell the Lord about it and where it might take you. Can you say with Thomas, “My Lord and my God”? Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.