Never let despair, disappointment or pain guide your decisions

Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him: "We have seen the Lord". But Thomas said to them, "Unless I see the nail mark in his hands and put my finger in the nail marks and put my hand by his side, I won't believe it." John 20: 24-25

It is easy to be critical of St. Thomas for his lack of trust reflected in his statement above. But before you allow yourself to think badly of him, think about how you would have responded. This is a difficult exercise to do since we clearly know the end of the story. We know that Jesus rose from the dead and that eventually Thomas came to believe, shouting "My Lord and my God!" But try to put yourself in its situation.

First, Thomas probably doubted partly out of extreme sadness and despair. He had hoped that Jesus was the Messiah, he had dedicated the last three years of his life to following him, and now Jesus was dead ... so he thought. This is an important point because very often in life, when we encounter difficulties, disappointments or painful situations, our faith is tested. We are tempted to allow despair to drag us into doubt and when this happens we make decisions based more on our pain than on our faith.

Secondly, Thomas was also called to deny the physical reality he witnessed with his own eyes and to believe in something completely "impossible" from an earthly perspective. People simply don't rise from the dead! This simply does not happen, at least only from an earthly perspective. And even though Thomas had already seen Jesus perform such miracles before, it took a lot of faith to believe without seeing with his own eyes. So despair and an apparent impossibility went to the heart of Thomas' faith and extinguished it.

Reflect today on two lessons we can draw from this passage: 1) Never let despair, disappointment or pain guide your decisions or beliefs in life. I am never a good guide. 2) Do not doubt the power of God to be able to do whatever he chooses. In this case, God chose to rise from the dead and did so. In our life, God can do anything he wants. We must believe it and know that what it reveals to us in faith will happen if we do not trust in its provident care.

Sir, I believe. Help my unbelief. When I am tempted to give in to despair or to doubt your almighty power over all things in life, help me turn to you and trust you with all my heart. I can cry, with St. Thomas, "My Lord and my God", and I can do it even when I only see with the faith you put in my soul. Jesus I believe in you.