Finally, Thomas saw the risen Lord. We are perhaps a little too critical of Thomas because he doubted. But there was something rather commendable about that man, because Thomas was not going to surrender himself to any king but Christ. He could be a teacher; he could be proclaimed as a king; he could be a wonder-worker; he could do anything. But there was one kind of love that Thomas knew to be the test, and that was the love that was victimal, the love that went to death for another.
That is the way that Magdalen recognized Jesus too. "In the place where they crucified him there was a garden", says St. John - a place where new life springs up. As Magdalen fell at his feet, through tear-dimmed eyes, she saw the two red marks of nails and knew that it was he. And when the Lord appeared to Thomas, he satisfied his demand for sacrificial love by saying: "Thomas, put your finger here into my hands and your hand here into my side. And be not incredulous but believing." Thomas had the test, the test of a resurrection presence. Blessed are they who have not seen but believe.
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We've almost gotten away from the concept of sacrificial love in our modern world. We succumb to Jesus Christ Superstar and rejoice and sing songs to someone attired in Reynolds Wrap, to make him forget that he's dying without a resurrection. So we teach our young that he's a superstar. Superstar! Who's a star? Someone who has a star over his dressing room door; the communications media are mad about him. Our Blessed Lord had no star over his dressing room door. He was driver out of a city, out to a garbage heap and there crucified. Thomas did not want this superstar, he said, "Unless I can put my finger into his hand and put my hand into his side I will not believe." I want a God who goes to death. "For greater love than this no man hath." What Thomas wanted was not Christ the superstar but a super scar.
From Through the Year with Fulton Sheen: Inspirational Readings for Each Day of the Year edited by Henry Dieterich
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