Readings (Year A):
Acts 2:42–47
Psalm 118:2–4, 13–15, 22–24
1 Peter 1:3–9
John 20:19–31
Reflection: St. Thomas of holy doubt, pray for us
Doubt sometimes gets a bad reputation, but I want to defend its value in the journey of faith. In today’s gospel, the apostle Thomas is absent for Jesus’s post-resurrection appearance to those early followers who were in hiding out of fear. When he returns to the others, he handles the news of Jesus’s appearance with incredulity and skepticism, raising doubts about what happened, in the absence of empirical evidence or physical proof.
On the one hand, I understand why his initial response could be frustrating and even discouraging to some of those who witnessed Christ’s visit. And the way the gospel of John portrays Thomas’s inquiry and seeming demand for concrete verification suggests a sense of entitlement or regretful FOMO (“fear of missing out”). However, on the other hand, doubt is a necessary part of genuine Christian faith. Those with doubts should not be stigmatized nor should the act of asking probing questions be dismissed or avoided.
Doubt is the very condition of the possibility of knowledge, and skepticism that leads to deep questions can be constructive. Think of methods used in scientific research that propose hypotheses and continually ask further questions to help gain greater clarity about our complex world through experimentation. Or think about the healthy skepticism maintained by professional and ethical journalists who do not take simple, rote answers at face value, but inquire further and follow the facts to bring truth to light.
Or consider the role of doubt in the life of Christian faith. Absolute certainty is not what we are asked to embrace as people of faith, but we are invited to believe. And sincere belief must grapple with questions, uncertainties, and the challenges of paradoxes and mysteries whose answers lie far beyond our limited horizon of knowledge. St. Anselm of Canterbury famously described theology as fides quaerens intellectum (“faith seeking understanding”) in the eleventh century. He made clear that faith in itself isn’t the end point, but the beginning of a journey of further discovery and greater understanding.
While perpetual doubt can be paralyzing and disheartening, having doubt can show that we are open to the Holy Spirit’s guidance and disclosure instead of insisting that we already have all the answers. It’s a necessary ingredient in imagining other possible worlds and considering how things could be more in line with God’s will. This is what we see reflected in our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, where we hear a description of church and society that looks extraordinarily different from the ones we know today (and, as historians note, also quite different from the communities of that time).
The vision is one where members of the community live in this world in such a manner as to embody the reign of God on earth. What we see is a community of devotion, mutuality, care, and equality. The value and dignity of each individual is not determined by their wealth or some specialized skill but is instead intrinsic to their being and reflected in their shared participation in the life of the community.
One precondition of this sort of life in community is doubt about the prevailing norms and social standards that prioritize individual rights, financial gain at any costs, private comfort over collective interdependence, violence and might over peace and equity, and selfishness over selflessness. The passage from 1 Peter reminds us that Christ himself is the foundation for this kind of constructive doubt about the status quo that leads to adopting the approach Jesus outlined about the in-breaking of the Kingdom of God. Jesus’ own life, death, and resurrection bears witness to the possibility of another way of being in the world, one that is “foolish” according to the so-called wisdom of our times (1 Corinthians 1:18–31) but one that is the true way of God.
Sometimes I wonder if the Apostle Thomas should be remembered not as the weak-willed or demanding character known pejoratively as “doubting Thomas,” but instead called upon by all the faithful as the patron saint of holy doubt. So, let us pray this Easter Season: St. Thomas, pray for us!
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