Today is the Feast of St. Thomas. I think of him as my patron saint, not because I am named after him, but because I am a doubter. My life with God includes dozens of doubts, from whether or not God could really love someone as flawed as I am to whether God really hears my prayers.
In today’s gospel, Thomas doubts the other disciples when they say they have seen Jesus resurrected. I hear myself saying with Thomas, “Oh, sure. Well I’m just going to have to have a look myself before I believe them.”
Those of us who have doubts, and that is probably everyone at some point, also have a wonderful gift from Jesus: hope. The gift of hope means that I really can believe without seeing. I can stop dwelling on my own self-doubts and turn my thoughts from me to God. God’s love makes no sense in human terms, but is there for us in an unending cascade of love, tenderness, caring and warmth.
Today’s reading from the Ephesians gives us a glimpse of how we, such imperfect humans, can still be touched so deeply by God, by God’s love and by hope. “You are no longer strangers,” St. Paul writes, “but members of the household of God…”
What a wonderful thought, to be reminded that Jesus has made us members of God’s household. Household members might include brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, and other close relatives. They are people who live together, get to know each other intimately and despite the many imperfections, still love each other. Paul’s words invite us to a deep awareness of who we are in God’s family: family members who are known in a very personal way, flaws and all. We are people who are intimately known but even more intimately loved and connected with God in a deep way.
Today, with Thomas, we are invited to remember how loved we are even in our doubts and to embrace Jesus warmly as we greet him, “My Lord and my God!”
Maureen McCann Waldron
The most important part of my life is my family – Jim my husband of 47 years and our two children. Our daughter Katy, a banker here in Omaha, and her husband John, have three wonderful children: Charlotte, Daniel and Elizabeth Grace. Our son Jack and his wife, Ellie, have added to our joy with their sons, Peter and Joseph.
I think family life is an incredible way to find God, even in (or maybe I should say, especially in) the most frustrating or mundane moments.
I am a native of the East Coast after graduating in 1971 from Archbishop John Carroll High School in suburban Philadelphia. I graduated from Creighton University in 1975 with a degree in Journalism and spent most of the next 20 years in corporate public relations in Omaha. I returned to Creighton in the 1990s and completed a master’s degree in Christian Spirituality in 1998.
As our children were growing up, my favorite times were always family dinners at home when the four of us would talk about our days. But now that our kids are gone from home, my husband and I have rediscovered how nice it is to have a quiet dinner together. I also have a special place in my heart for family vacations when the kids were little and four of us were away from home together. It’s a joy to be with my growing family.
Writing a Daily Reflection is always a graced moment, because only with God’s help could I ever write one. I know my own life is hectic, disjointed and imperfect and I know most of us have lives like that. I usually write from that point of view and I always seem to find some sentence, some word in the readings that speaks right to me, in all of my imperfection. I hope that whatever I write is in some way supportive of others.
It’s an incredibly humbling experience to hear from someone who was touched by something I wrote. Whether the note is from someone across campus or across the world, it makes me realize how connected we are all in our longing to grow closer to God.
