Sunday, April 7 : Saint Peter Chrysologus

When Thomas had learned from his companions that they had seen the Lord, he answered: “Unless I see the mark of the nails and put my hand in his side, I will not believe.” Why did Thomas demand signs for his faith in this way?… The power of the devil has fallen, hell’s prison has been opened, the chains of the dead have been broken, the tombs of those who were raised have been overturned (Mt 27,52)…, the stone covering the Lord’s tomb has been rolled aside, the gravecloths have been removed and death has fled before the glory of the Risen One… So why is it that only you, Thomas, so insistently demand that the wounds be shown to you alone as proof for your faith?… Brethren, it is his ardent love that asked for this… For Thomas was not just healing the doubt in his own heart but that of all. Destined to carry the news to the pagans, as a conscientious messenger he sought out the foundations on which he would base his proclamation of so important a truth of faith… So this disciple won for others the sign he claimed on account of his delay. “Jesus came and stood in their midst and showed them his hands and his side.” In fact, since he had entered while the doors were shut and was thought to be a ghost by his disciples, he could not have proved it was really he to those who doubted except by the sufferings of his body, the marks of his wounds. He came and said to Thomas: “Put your finger and see my hands and put your hand in my side that, opened up once more by you, these wounds should spread the faith over all the world just as they have poured out water for purification and blood for humankind’s redemption” (cf. Jn 19,34). Thomas replied: “My Lord and my God!” Let heretics come, let them hear and, as the Lord has said, let them not be doubtful but believing. For see, Thomas declares, not just this human body but the sufferings endured by that body testify that Christ is God and Lord. And he is truly God, he who is alive after death, raised up from his wounds and who, after undergoing such torture, lives and reigns, God for ever and ever. Amen.
Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team