Angels, St. Thomas

The biblical writers make many references to Angels, from Genesis to Revelation. The “three men” who visited Abraham may have been the archangels (“messengers”) Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, to announce that the same very elderly Sarah will indeed bear a child. Similarly, Gabriel plays a key role in the Annunciation to our very young Blessed Mother of her Immaculate Conception of Jesus. And, our guardian angels act as the two angels who guarded Lot and his family during their escape from Sodom (just don’t look back!) During the Easter Octave masses we always hear how the apostle Thomas doubted his fellow disciples’ claim they had seen Jesus. That’s always unfair. The apostles didn’t believe their eyes when they first saw Jesus after the resurrection (they weren’t relying on anyone’s word). And they disbelieved Mary Magdalene when she said she had just seen Jesus. Throughout John’s Gospel, Jesus exhorts his disciples to believe, because so many doubted—even after seeing him perform many miracles! So, go easy on St Thomas. His flawed humanity helped bring us the following expressions from him and from our Lord, to help us believe in Jesus: “My Lord and My God” “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life…” and “…Blessed are those who haven’t seen, yet believe” Aired 4/17