Sunday, April 27, 2025
Dearly Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Christ is Risen!
Last Sunday, we beheld the empty tomb and heard the angel declare to the myrrh-bearing women: “He is not here; He is Risen!”
Today, we commemorate the “Sunday of Thomas.” St. Thomas, often called “Doubting Thomas,” has become an icon of both our own struggles with faith, and of the Lord’s boundless compassion.
Saint Gregory the Theologian teaches us that “Christ appears to Thomas, not to shame his doubt, but to heal it.” He does not scold him, but invites him: “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands.” (John 20:27)
St. Thomas’ cry, “My Lord and my God!” is an expression of worship and revelation — for he is the first to directly call Jesus “God” after His Resurrection.
Saint Ephraim the Syrian reflects that Christ kept His wounds as trophies of His love, and as a perpetual invitation to the doubting heart. The glorified body of the Risen Christ still bears the marks of His Passion.
Saint Cyril of Alexandria writes: “The faith of those who believe without seeing is more noble and more worthy of praise, for it is a pure faith — one that is rooted not in sight, but in love.”
As we continue the bright season of Pascha, let us cast off our doubts, and let our hearts burn with the same faith that transformed Thomas from skeptic to apostle and missionary of India.
Let us embrace the Risen Christ as Thomas did — and cry out from the depths of our soul: “My Lord and my God!” Amen.