It must have been tough to be one of the 12 apostles. This gospel brings home to me both the leap of faith these men made over and over again and how Jesus is nearly always patient with them. (I say nearly always because at times I read a little exasperation, like the exasperation of a father when his son or daughter doesn’t heed a warning. Be careful walking backward, the dad might say. And then, when backwards walking doesn’t work out so well, a shake of the head as the dad picks up the child, brushes him off and gives him a hug before the next adventure.) Imagine how new this all was to the apostles, even after the years of teaching and following. Jesus says there’s a place for you; you know the way. And yet Thomas says: “We don’t know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus is the way. It’s a message the apostles heard again and again. It’s a message we have to hear and live by. We have to make that leap of faith again and again. We, too, know the way, but we’re sometimes loath to follow it. We make easy choices and we let ourselves be led astray. But like the apostles, we have learned the way. We just have to go in the right direction. When we make a wrong turn, we are reminded of God’s patience with these words I love at the beginning of the gospel: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith in me.” |