In the two readings, responsorial psalm, and Gospel the importance of the Trinity is emphasized as the foundation of the Christian life.  Particular attention is given to Jesus.  The first reading indicates that “The community of believers was of one heart and mind.”  This community gains its strength from God.  In the responsorial psalm we read “My strength and my courage is the Lord.”  Praise is given to God as indicated by the refrain “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his love is everlasting.”  The second reading explicitly addresses the interconnectedness of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  We as Christian people are victors: “And the victory that conquers the world is our faith.  Who indeed is the victor over the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”  This belief that Jesus is the Son of God requires a “leap of faith” that Thomas is unable to make until he physically sees Jesus resurrected and places his hands on Jesus’ side.  In John’s Gospel, Jesus appears to admonish Thomas as He exclaims “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

All of us today are challenged to become the ones “who have not seen and have believed.”  Jesus presents us with quite the challenge.  Once we accept the task of completely trusting “…that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,…through this belief [we] may have life in his name.”  Finding life’s meaning through faith seems to describe the journey that each of us is being called to pursue.  Every time I attend Mass and recite the Nicene Creed I try to seriously think about what I am saying.  Many times I become overwhelmed by this statement of faith.  I question whether I truly believe everything I am saying or if I am merely reciting the prayer out of habit.  Like Thomas I doubt my own commitment to faith. 

Similarly, when I examine my daily actions I often question how much I live in accord with what I claim to believe.  Do I live hypocritically?  If I truly believe that as Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “‘Receive the Holy Spirit.  Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained’” why do I sometimes resist granting forgiveness to my neighbor?  Am I truly remaining open to the grace of the Holy Spirit to transform my heart and mind?  When I gossip about someone behind his or her back am I falling away from the “community of believers” in the first reading?  I realize that I am not alone in my struggle.  I know that I will continue to experience ups and downs in my faith.  However, I pray for the strength to trust in God’s divine power over my human weaknesses.