July 3rd, Friday, Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle
The apostle Thomas’ first reaction when he met Jesus was that of doubt that He rose from the dead. It earned him the nickname, Doubting Thomas. However, his story actually ended up with an expression of great faith to the Lord, as he said, My Lord and my God!
Thomas’ experience may resonate with us. He reminds us that faith is a journey and a process, like any other dimension of growth. A child falls, rolls and bumps several times before he or she could finally stand still and walk straight. Our faith does not come along instantly strong. We must nurture it, as we remain open to going through the process of growth.
We heard stories of saints and holy people who experienced having dark moments of their faith. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, for example, revealed being plagued with periods of serious doubts about God.
It seems that having doubts and questions about the faith is part of our limited grasp of God’s profound mysteries. Jesus understands us. He does not condemn us because we doubt. In fact, His initial response to Thomas was a warm greeting, “Peace be with you.” He then agreed to Thomas’ request to touch His wounds, if it would help clear his unbelief.
We experience doubt, especially when we encounter difficult circumstances in life. Where is God? Is there God? And sometimes we challenge God to show us a proof that He is truly omnipotent by asking to turn things on our favor, according to our desire.
The Lord will keep drawing near us, even though we doubt. If we remain true to our spiritual search, we will always end up understanding the reasons why things happen the way they are. We will come to the realization that God loves us and gives only the best for us. We can go back to faith and even nurture a stronger faith if we remain open to the revelation of God in our lives. And like Thomas, we say, My Lord and my God!
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Featured Image Compliments of PEXELS, by Nathan Cowley
HELPING FAMILIES PROJECT 
The last paragraph REALLY resonates with me in my life right now. I find it very reassuring that God draws CLOSER to us even when we question Him. From what you’ve written, I take it to mean that He is happy we are SEARCHING for Him enough to question things. I do agree also that, given time, one sees the reasonableness of His answer (or seemingly no answer) if we are open to Him and His love.
Thank you for providing these insights!
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