O Dayspring, Brightness of the Light Eternal, and Sun of
Righteousness: Come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and the shadow of
death.
Great O Antiphon on Magnificat
for Dec. 21
In a marvelous way God's mercy arranged that the
disbelieving disciple, in touching the wounds of his master's body, should heal
our wounds of disbelief. The disbelief of Thomas has done more for our faith
than the faith of the other disciples. As he touches Christ and is won over to
belief, every doubt is case aside and our faith is strengthened. So the
disciple who doubted, then felt Christ's wounds, becomes a witness to the reality
of the resurrection."
From a sermon by St. Gregory the Great
On this, the longest night of the year in northern climes,
we are privileged to share in the feast of St. Thomas the Apostle, which (this
year) falls on a Friday in Embertide. Thus, all sorts of meanings are at play:
faith, doubt, discipleship, ministry, self-denial, the Paschal Mystery, and many others.
For those who use the Daily Office, it is a time of special
beauty. After fasting from the Te Deum since
the start of Advent, that ancient and beautiful hymn of praise once more
sounded forth this morning at Matins. As the sun set, one of the "Great O Antiphons" was used at
Evensong. At the Eucharist, the Gloria in
excelsis was sung, and the rich red of martyrs was used in the vestments.
It is a day of festival in the midst of fast…and yet…
The richness of the liturgical offering cannot obscure the fact that ours is a troubled, dark season in the Church and Nation. Violence, fear of economic collapse, schism, and the ongoing divide of a nation and world in rapid transition all contribute to a sense that the simple act of having hope in the future—let alone believing in a God's victory over evil and death—is too much to ask for many.
For those of us who have chosen Christ, however, the
challenges we face are really opportunities to turn anew to Our Lord, joining St.
Thomas. For Thomas, though he had not seen the Risen Christ at first and thus
doubting the testimony of the other Apostles, nevertheless comes back to be
with them in prayer and fellowship. He does not let his doubt become the rejection which kills relationships and hope.
Frail in his faith, he remains undaunted in his faithfulness.
As St. Gregory the Great tells us, this willingness to stay
committed to the journey of faith even when his own personal understanding is
strained beyond the breaking point proves to be the key to the next stage of
Thomas' development as an Apostle and the means by which we all are strengthened
in faith to this day by reading this account. Through him, we meet the Risen Christ in a new and very tangible way. His experience is ours: through his
doubt, we are renewed in faith. Through his perseverance, we are carried on in
our own trials.
The story of St. Thomas always brings us back to the
centrality of the Cross and Resurrection in Christianity—even as we prepare for
the Feast of the Nativity. We are reminded that at its core, the Christian
faith is always an encounter with the power of the Risen Christ, God’s
overturning desire for our complete transformation into the potential people we
were created to be: “Partakers of the Divine Nature.”
As we look ahead towards Christmas and all that this means
for us in our culture, today is an important opportunity to see the way Christ
uses even our doubts and limitations—when offered to Him in faith—for good. It
is this type of faith which the collect says is “never found wanting," a faith so different from
the ironclad, rigid imitation so often mistaken for the genuine article.
In so doing, we can perhaps understand in a new and deeper
way the significance of the Incarnation we will celebrate at Christmas, with all its embrace
of our need, our brokenness, and our potential. Knowing this, we are sent forth
to minister the Gospel in humility as “treasures in clay vessels,” yet also
personally aware of how much God desires our sharing in His Life—and thus
living lives that return to Him again and again after each “Thomas” moment
along the way.
Collect of St. Thomas
the Apostle
Everliving God, who strengthened your apostle Thomas with
firm and certain faith in your Son's resurrection: Grant us so perfectly and
without doubt to believe in Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God, that our faith
may never be found wanting in your sight; through him who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
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