God, I offer myself to Thee, to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them
may bear witness to those I would help of Thy power, Thy love and Thy way of life. May I do Thy will always. Amen. - Alcoholics Anonymous Prayer
Let this be your prayer today as you offer to God all that gives you difficulties. Know that in the Spirit you have victory over all evil.
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Ephesians 2:19-22
Psalm 117:1bc, 2 John 20:24-29 Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus
came. When the disciples said, ‘We have seen the Lord’, he answered, ‘Unless I see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.’ Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them. ‘Peace be with you’ he said. Then he spoke to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your
hand; put it into my side. Doubt no longer but believe.’ Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him: ‘You believe because you can see me.
Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.’
Reflection on the Scriptures
As we celebrate the feast of the Apostle Thomas, I am reminded of William Barclay’s words: “There is something very lovable and very admirable about Thomas. Faith was never an easy thing for him;
obedience never came readily to him. He was the man who had to be sure; he was the man who had to count the cost.” How do we proceed when our faith is in doubt and make sure of our faith? To move forward, could we count the cost by praying? In moments of struggle, prayer opens the way to experiencing God. Doubt often carries a hidden
curiosity—a deep yearning to understand life’s greater purpose. While it may reflect a weakened faith, it is not the absence of faith. The beautiful truth is that when doubt is brought into prayer, it becomes a path to the revelation of God’s love. Within the curiosity that doubt brings lies the adventure of encountering and responding to our Creator and His mysteries.
After Jesus’ ascension, Thomas, once burdened by doubt, was
sent like the other apostles to proclaim the Gospel. According to tradition, he traveled to India, where he founded a Christian community that endures to this day. Ultimately, he followed his Master’s example—giving his life in martyrdom, reportedly pierced by a spear. Let us pause and ask God the grace to continue praying
unceasingly in times of doubt, trusting that He will always listen. Here, we will experience the joy of proclaiming, “My Lord and my God!” and answer His call to “Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.” -by George Meze, S.J.
The Bodily Resurrection of Jesus, by James Arraj
https://innerexplorations.com/catchtheomor/resurrecion.htm Inner Growth Publications, 2007.
Chapter 4: The Resurrection of Jesus Space and the Resurrection Body . . . When the radiance of the Word at the death of Jesus flooded into the soul of Jesus, his soul sent out a powerful burst of formal energy that resonated with the body of Jesus. If some of the saints’ bodies resisted corruption, how much more would the body of Jesus resist corruption in the first hours of death? But the formal energy radiated by the soul of Jesus was of such an intensity that the
death of the body was reversed, and it came to life. The snapped link of the entity of union was restored, and even more than this, the radiant energy that filled the soul of Jesus flooded into his body and transformed it into a glorified body. This resurrection body of Jesus, in virtue of its participation in this formal energy, was not confined to three-dimensional space and efficient causality. It dwells in a hyper-dimensional or supra-dimensional space. It is a real body, but one in which its material substance can and should be distinguished from the quantitative dimensions that anchor a body in a particular place.62 In our own cases our resurrections are deferred. Our souls lack the formal energy to bring about the resurrection of our bodies, or even, except in the most exceptional cases, retard the disintegration of the body, but this does not mean that our bodies are still not marked by a relationship of the soul, and a longing, as it were, for the
resurrection.
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