Quote from "The Apostles"

I am enjoying reading “The Apostles” by Pope Benedict XVI (2007) Our Sunday Visitor Publishing. Here is a sample from Chapter 12, Thomas the Twin.

The Evangelist [John] continues with Jesus’ last words to Thomas: “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” This sentence can also be put into the present: “Blessed are those who do not see and yet believe.”

In any case, here Jesus spells out a fundamental principle for Christians who will come after Thomas, hence, for all of us.

It is interesting to note that another Thomas, the great Medieval theologian of Aquinas, juxtaposed this formula of blessedness with the apparently opposite one recorded by Luke: “Blessed are the eyes which see what you see!” [Luke 10:23]. However, Aquinas comments: “Those who believe without seeing are more meritorious than those who, seeing, believe.”

In fact, the Letter to the Hebrews, recalling the whole series of the ancient biblical Patriarchs who believed in God without seeing the fulfillment of his promises, defines faith as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” [Hebrews 11:1].

The Apostle Thomas’ case is important to us for at least three reasons: first because it comforts us in our insecurity; second, because it shows that every doubt can lead to an outcome brighter than any uncertainty; and lastly, because the words that Jesus addressed to him remind us of the true meaning of mature faith and encourage us to persevere, despite the difficulty, along our journey of adhesion to him.

A final point concerning Thomas is preserved for us in the Fourth Gospel, which presents him as a witness of the Risen One in the subsequent event of the miraculous catch in the Sea of Tiberias.

On that occasion, Thomas is even mentioned immediately after Simon Peter: an evident sign of the considerable importance that he enjoyed in the context of the early Christian communities.

Indeed, the Acts and the Gospel of Thomas, both apocryphal works but in any case important for the study of Christian origins, were written in his name.

Lastly, let us remember that an ancient tradition claims that Thomas first evangelized Syria and Persia (mentioned by Origen) then went on to Western India, from where he also finally reached Southern India.
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Well, I enjoy everything that Pope Benedict says and writes, and this book, as this passage illustrates, is another very pleasing work. He captures the essence of each Apostle who personally knew and witnessed to Jesus Christ, and with large, general and insightful strokes brings their interactions with Jesus into useful and comforting perspective today.