{"id":194,"date":"2011-05-02T08:53:48","date_gmt":"2011-05-02T12:53:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/catholicbychoice\/?p=194"},"modified":"2011-05-02T08:53:48","modified_gmt":"2011-05-02T12:53:48","slug":"doubting-thomas-teaches-us-the-way-of-courageous-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/2011\/05\/doubting-thomas-teaches-us-the-way-of-courageous-faith.html","title":{"rendered":"‘Doubting’ Thomas Teaches us the Way of Courageous Faith"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Second Sunday of Easter is \u201cDivine Mercy Sunday\u201d in the Catholic liturgical calendar. This year, it also became the day when beloved Pope John Paul II was beatified. Our Gospel (John 20: 19-31) recounted one of the Post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus Christ to his disciples, where Jesus appears to his disciples, coming through locked doors and says \u201cPeace be with you\u201d breathing upon them the Holy Spirit and communicating His authority to forgive sins.<\/p>\n

However, Thomas was not present. The Beloved disciple John records this exchange between the Risen Lord and Thomas which follows: \u201cThomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, \u201cWe have seen the Lord.\u201d But he said to them, \u201cUnless 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

“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, \u201cPeace be with you.\u201d Then he said to Thomas, \u201cPut your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.\u201d Thomas answered and said to him, \u201cMy Lord and my God!\u201d<\/p>\n

This encounter led to Thomas being called \u201cDoubting Thomas\u201d. Yet the Christian tradition tells us that so called \u201cdoubting Thomas\u201d died a martyr for his faith. He also became a messenger of Mercy to India, a missionary who shed his own blood for the Master whom he encountered on that day. His insistence on touching the wounds presented the Disciple John another opportunity to explain for all of us the implications of the Bodily Resurrection of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

Thomas\u2019s response in his encounter with the Risen Lord, \u201cMy Lord and My God” reveals the heart of prayer as a call to adoration and communion with God. It has become the exclamation for millions, myself included, when faced with the Mystery of Mysteries, the Holy Eucharist at the elevation during Mass.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I suggest that Thomas was not a doubter, rather he was a believer. And he is a model for all of us at every Eucharist which is the Feast of Mercy. Pope St Gregory the Great who occupied the Chair of Peter between 590 and 604 preached a marvelous homily on this encounter between Thomas and the Risen Lord. In it he asked:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat conclusion, dear brethren, do you come to? Surely it was not by chance that this chosen disciple, was missing in the first place? Or that on his return he heard, that hearing he doubted, that doubting he touched, and that touching he believed? It was by divine dispensation and not by chance that things so fell out. God\u2019s Mercy worked wonderfully, for when that doubting disciple touched his Master\u2019s wounded flesh he cured the wound of our disbelief\u2026 So this doubting disciple, who actually touched, became a witness to the reality of the resurrection\u201d<\/p>\n

We are invited to become living witnesses in our own day to the reality of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thomas touched the wounded side of beloved Savior to heal the wounds of our own disbelief. We were invited to approach the throne of Mercy and cry out with St. Thomas: “My Lord and My God” (Jn 20:28). Those who do so are forever changed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Second Sunday of Easter is \u201cDivine Mercy Sunday\u201d in the Catholic liturgical calendar. This year, it also became the day when beloved Pope John Paul II was beatified. Our Gospel (John 20: 19-31) recounted one of the Post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus Christ to his disciples, where Jesus appears to his disciples, coming through locked…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[116,52,110,122,121,98],"tags":[13,232,123],"class_list":["post-194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian-living","category-conversion","category-divine-liturgy","category-healingliving-faith","category-living-faith-2","category-saints-2","tag-deacon-keith-fournier","tag-faith","tag-healing"],"yoast_head":"\n'Doubting' Thomas Teaches us the Way of Courageous Faith - Catholic by Choice<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/2011\/05\/doubting-thomas-teaches-us-the-way-of-courageous-faith.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'Doubting' Thomas Teaches us the Way of Courageous Faith - Catholic by Choice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Second Sunday of Easter is \u201cDivine Mercy Sunday\u201d in the Catholic liturgical calendar. This year, it also became the day when beloved Pope John Paul II was beatified. Our Gospel (John 20: 19-31) recounted one of the Post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus Christ to his disciples, where Jesus appears to his disciples, coming through locked…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/2011\/05\/doubting-thomas-teaches-us-the-way-of-courageous-faith.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic by Choice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-05-02T12:53:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/catholicbychoice\/files\/2011\/05\/Thomas-3.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Deacon Keith Fournier\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"'Doubting' Thomas Teaches us the Way of Courageous Faith - Catholic by Choice","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/2011\/05\/doubting-thomas-teaches-us-the-way-of-courageous-faith.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"'Doubting' Thomas Teaches us the Way of Courageous Faith - Catholic by Choice","og_description":"The Second Sunday of Easter is \u201cDivine Mercy Sunday\u201d in the Catholic liturgical calendar. This year, it also became the day when beloved Pope John Paul II was beatified. Our Gospel (John 20: 19-31) recounted one of the Post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus Christ to his disciples, where Jesus appears to his disciples, coming through locked…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/2011\/05\/doubting-thomas-teaches-us-the-way-of-courageous-faith.html","og_site_name":"Catholic by Choice","article_published_time":"2011-05-02T12:53:48+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/catholicbychoice\/files\/2011\/05\/Thomas-3.jpg"}],"author":"Deacon Keith Fournier","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/2011\/05\/doubting-thomas-teaches-us-the-way-of-courageous-faith.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/2011\/05\/doubting-thomas-teaches-us-the-way-of-courageous-faith.html","name":"'Doubting' Thomas Teaches us the Way of Courageous Faith - Catholic by Choice","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/2011\/05\/doubting-thomas-teaches-us-the-way-of-courageous-faith.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/2011\/05\/doubting-thomas-teaches-us-the-way-of-courageous-faith.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/catholicbychoice\/files\/2011\/05\/Thomas-3.jpg","datePublished":"2011-05-02T12:53:48+00:00","dateModified":"2011-05-02T12:53:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/#\/schema\/person\/909624e873e50d92ecdd9d770939b3ce"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/2011\/05\/doubting-thomas-teaches-us-the-way-of-courageous-faith.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/2011\/05\/doubting-thomas-teaches-us-the-way-of-courageous-faith.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/2011\/05\/doubting-thomas-teaches-us-the-way-of-courageous-faith.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/catholicbychoice\/files\/2011\/05\/Thomas-3.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/catholicbychoice\/files\/2011\/05\/Thomas-3.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/2011\/05\/doubting-thomas-teaches-us-the-way-of-courageous-faith.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"‘Doubting’ Thomas Teaches us the Way of Courageous Faith"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/","name":"Catholic by Choice","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Deacon Keith Fournier","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/#\/schema\/person\/909624e873e50d92ecdd9d770939b3ce","name":"Deacon Keith Fournier","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/a31\/a31a3d7bdef162866a3fb2de941a42b3x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/a31\/a31a3d7bdef162866a3fb2de941a42b3x96.jpg","caption":"Deacon Keith Fournier"},"description":"Deacon Keith Fournier is the Editor in Chief at Catholic Online, one of the largest integrated Catholic Media Networks on the World Wide Web. He is a widely recognized voice in the Catholic and broader Christian community. He is a member of the Clergy of the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia. In his fifteenth year of service as an ordained Catholic Deacon, he is currently assigned to St Stephen Martyr Parish in Chesapeake, Virginia. He is also authorized to serve the Liturgy of the Greek Byzantine Melkite Catholic Church. Deacon Fournier and his wife Laurine have been married for 34 years and have five grown children and six grandchildren. Deacon Fournier holds his Bachelors degree in theology and philosophy from the Franciscan University of Steubenville (BA), his Masters Degree in Marriage and Family Theology from the John Paul II Institute of the Lateran University (MTS), his Juris Doctor Law Degree Law (JD) from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and is a PhD candidate in Moral Theology at the Catholic University of America where he is currently writing his Doctoral Dissertation. Deacon Fournier also holds two honorary Doctorates, a Doctor of Laws (L.L.D. 1994,Honoris Causa) from St. Thomas University - Given for pro-life legal contributions, and a Doctor of Divinity Degree (D.D. 2005, Honoris Causa ) from the National Clergy Council and the Methodist Episcopal Church for his contributions to authentic ecumenical efforts toward Christian unity. Attorney Fournier is a constitutional lawyer who appeared as co-counsel in cases before the United States Supreme Court on Pro-Life, Religious Freedom and Pro-family issues. He served as the first Executive Director of the American Center for Law and Justice for seven years. He then served as a public policy activist for the causes of life, marriage and family issues for a number of years. He has extensive experience in nonprofit and for profit leadership. He has taught at the College level and served in Academic administration. He was a Dean of Students and the Dean of Evangelization at the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Steubenville, Ohio. Deacon Fournier is, above all, a communicator. His faith informs his passion to share the fullness of life which he has found in the heart of the Catholic Church. He has written eight books on matters of faith, family and the Christian life and is widely published in the broader Christian community on matters of life, faith, family, and cultural and social issues. He hosted two daily national radio programs, Purpose for Living, and Millennial Moment. He hosted several television series on Christian family and contemporary faith issues on EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network). He is actively involved in preaching and teaching in the Catholic Church and the broader Christian community. In addition to serving as the Editor in Chief of Catholic Online, Deacon Fournier is the John Paul II Fellow and special counsel for the National Pro-Life Center in Washington, D.C. and is the president of Third Millennium, LLC, a communications and consulting company. He views his role on Beliefnet as an opportunity to share his Catholic Christian faith in what he calls a new areopagus. The areopagus is referred to in the 17th Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the Christian New Testament. Also called Mars Hill it was there where the Apostle Paul shared the Christian faith with the early Greeks in their temple.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/author\/deaconfournier"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":198,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194\/revisions\/198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicbychoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}