Thomas, Apostle

Biography

They came from humble people, from ignorant fishermen, from poor proletarians of Galilee. This was Thomas the Twin, a Galilean, poor and simple, one of the twelve who had the privilege of living with the Rabbi of Nazareth, as the disciples lived with their teachers: being with Him day and night, listening to Him closely, eating with Him and sleeping in the same room. Tomás was a man of character. Among the twelve Apostles he stands out as one of the most autonomous and determined. Even without understanding him, he followed Jesus blindly, with enthusiasm. Although he fled like the others at the moment of the Passion, he was brave. When on Easter afternoon Jesus appears to the Apostles locked in the Cenacle, Thomas was not there. It seemed to him that everything was over. That's why when his companions tell him that they have seen the Lord, Thomas the skeptic does not want to be fooled again. Thomas answers them: "Unless I see the wounds from the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the place of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe." He was a practical, disillusioned man. He wants guarantees. And it's not enough for him to see. He wants to touch, feel, to convince himself. But nothing happens by chance. Jesus allows him to do so a week later, and then tells him: "You have believed because you have seen; blessed are those who will believe without having seen Me." Thomas's attitude, says a Holy Father, his disbelief, was more beneficial to us than Magdalene's faith. Thomas, with the impetuosity of his character, wanted to compensate for that doubt with a total dedication to the apostolate. The Holy Fathers show us preaching from kingdom to kingdom, until reaching the Indian desert. It is said that it reached Calcutta, the Ganges and Ceylon. Since the 6th century, the transfer of his body to Edessa has been celebrated on July 3rd. He is the patron saint of surveyors, architects, bricklayers and carpenters. According to tradition, he preached the Gospel in India, where he died a martyr. We know that when Jesus told them about his upcoming death, Thomas said, “Let us also go and die with Him,” which shows his courage and zeal. When we notice, in practice, our little faith, let us know how to trust in the Lord, sincerely saying the same thing as the apostle Thomas.