July 3
Our Lady of la Carolle
Paris (1418)
Gospel: John 20:24-29
(Saint Thomas, Apostle)
Today’s Gospel
is about a man who refused to believe secondhand. Thomas wasn’t in the room
when the Risen Christ first appeared, and when the other disciples told him, he
wasn’t satisfied with their word for it, he needed to see and touch the wounds
himself. Jesus doesn’t scold him for that. He simply shows up again, wounds and
all, and lets Thomas reach out his hand.
There’s an
honesty in Thomas that gets a bad reputation. Most of us carry a version of his
doubt, not whether God exists, but whether He’s actually present in this
particular mess, this diagnosis, this empty chair at the table. We want proof,
not platitudes. We want Him to show up in the wound, not just in the testimony
of people who say they’ve seen Him there.
Bring the Lord
your actual doubt today instead of a polished version of your faith. He’s not
afraid of your fingers in His wounds. He’s not afraid of “I don’t know if I
believe this right now.” Thomas became the apostle who touched the risen Christ
precisely because he was honest enough to say he hadn’t yet. Whatever you’re
not sure about, say it plainly. Jesus answers honest doubt far more often than one
might think.
Today, the
Marian calendar remembers Our Lady of la Carolle in Paris, dated to 1418, one
more place where the faithful, in their own uncertain century, still came to
ask, to touch, and to believe. Our Lady never demanded perfect faith before
she’d intercede; she simply stayed near. Here’s a pondering thought: What’s the
doubt you’ve been too embarrassed to say out loud, even in prayer?
Rosary Man Jim 🌹
Freely given. Freely shared.
