IN DEFENSE OF ST.
THOMAS
“The evil men do lives after them.
The good is often interred with their bones.”
(Wm. Shakespeare: Julius Caesar)
Marc Antony was speaking of Julius Caesar, but the words
apply to St. Thomas the Apostle as well.
Because Thomas would not take the word of the other disciples, but
instead insisted on seeing the risen Lord for himself, he has been dubbed “The
Doubter” for centuries. Whenever his
name is mentioned that sobriquet is always added. This is unfair and
unjust. When Mary Magdalene told Peter
that Jesus had risen and she had seen him, he dismissed it as the ramblings of
a woman and ran to see for himself. No
one has called him a doubter.
Thomas probably regretted his dramatic words about putting
his hands in the nail holes, etc., but wanting to see for himself before
committing was part of who he was and he couldn’t help that. I guess I want to defend Thomas because I
would have done what he did. I might not have phrased it exactly as he did, but
I would have wanted to see for myself.
There is nothing to be done to correct the fact that Thomas
will always be identified as the Doubter, however, it is indicative of
something else. Thomas was a victim of
gossip as surely as any person, whose actions become common knowledge and by
that they are judged. Can you just hear
it? Someone mentions that Thomas is one
of the twelve and someone else says,
“O yes. Isn’t he the
one who didn’t believe Jesus rose?”
Think of it, a close disciple of Jesus, one of the revered
twelve, a victim of judgmental gossip for 2000 years. Perhaps that is why Thomas evangelized in
India. He made his way through the east
and finally stopped in India. There he
founded the church and baptized many. To
this day their descendants are known as St. Thomas Christians.
Gossip ought to be regarded as the 8th deadly
sin. Gossip causes us to sit in judgment
on others, which Jesus warned would have repercussions for us. It destroys
reputations. It ruins lives and it shrinks the souls of those who spread it. I
once quit a job because a co-worker gossiped incessantly about neighbors I knew.
I quit when I realized I not only repeated the gossip, I believed it with no
evidence what so ever. I quit rather than confront her and I regret that very
much. Today I ask people not to tell me
what they are dying to tell. If I hear
it before I can stop it, I tell the person that I wish they had never told me
because now I have to live with the knowledge. The Spirit within must cringe
every time. We can’t broadcast our neighbor’s faults,
errors and sins and not care what effect it has on their lives, and still call
ourselves disciples of Christ.
Blessings
Carol Lemelin OPA
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