In today’s first reading, Paul uses architectural and familial imagery to describe the church. The Gospel describes Thomas’ encounter with the risen Christ.
Today is the Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle. Thomas has always held special meaning for me as both a Catholic and a physics professor. Thomas is often remembered by the unfortunate nickname “Doubting Thomas,” but my sense is that the Gospel presents a very rational figure. As someone trained in the sciences, I find Thomas remarkably relatable. Science depends on observation, testing, and verification. We are taught not to accept claims uncritically. I do not feel that Thomas’ desire for evidence was a moral failure; I tend to see it as an expression of intellectual honesty.
When Jesus appears and invites Thomas to touch his wounds, Thomas responds with one of the most profound professions of faith in the New Testament: “My Lord and my God!” Interestingly, the Gospel never tells us whether Thomas actually touched Jesus. The encounter itself was enough. The evidence Thomas sought was given, but what transformed him was not merely data; it was a relationship.
As physicists, we are trained that seeing is not always believing. Much of what we know about the universe comes from realities we cannot directly observe. We infer the existence of quarks, black holes, and dark matter from their effects. Evidence points beyond itself to a deeper reality; we also are willing to revise our understanding as we learn more. I feel that faith may work in a somewhat analogous way. It is not belief without reason; it is trust grounded in signs, testimony, experience, and encounter. I feel that faith too can be dynamic.
The reading from Ephesians reminds us that we are “members of the household of God,” built upon the foundation of the apostles. Thomas, despite his “doubts”, is one of those foundation stones. Indeed, he is often credited as being the first great missionary to the East. My sense is that the Church does not rest upon people who never questioned. It rests upon ordinary men and women whose lives were transformed by their encounter with Christ.
We live in a culture that often imagines faith and reason to be adversaries. Yet Thomas shows us that honest questions can become pathways to a deeper knowledge. I have a sense that doubt is not the opposite of faith, rather indifference is. The opposite of faith may be closing ourselves to the possibility that truth may be greater than our current understanding.
On this feast day, my prayer focuses on the insights we might gain from Thomas the Apostle.
Dear Lord,
I feel drawn to bring both my mind and my heart to You.
Help me to grow in and through my search for answers.
Guide me in a sincere quest for understanding in the laboratory, in the classroom, and in the depths of prayer.
Help me discover, as Thomas did, how the search itself leads me to You.
Mike Cherney
I grew up in Milwaukee and have lived in Madison, St. Paul, Hamburg, Geneva, Omaha and Boston. I taught for 27 years in the Creighton Physics Department. Now I am mostly retired and have returned to the Milwaukee area where my wife recently became President of Mount Mary University. I continue to work with Creighton students on projects in high energy nuclear physics at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island and at CERN just outside Geneva, Switzerland. We have two sons and three grandchildren who all live in the northern suburbs of Chicago.
I am a person who asks questions. This often leads me down a challenging path.
