Dearest all, Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!
Something to consider as we hear the Lord’s reply to Thomas’ confession of faith ‘Because you have seen me, Thomas, you have believed.’ (Jn.20:29)
“…Paul said: ‘Faith is the guarantee of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.’ (Heb. 11:1) It is clear, then, that faith is the proof of what can not be seen. What is seen gives knowledge, not faith. When Thomas saw and touched, why was he told: ‘You have believed because you have seen me?’ Because what he saw and what he believed were different things. God cannot be seen by mortal man. Thomas saw a human being, whom he acknowledged to be God, and said: ‘My Lord and my God.’ Seeing, he believed; looking at one who was true man, he cried out that this was God, the God he could not see. What follows is reason for great joy: ‘Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.’
There is here a particular reference to ourselves; we hold in our hearts One we have not seen in the flesh. We are included in these words, but only if we follow up our faith with good works. The true believer practices what he believes. But of those who pay only lip service to faith, Paul has this to say: ‘They profess to know God, but they deny him in their works. ’Therefore James says: ‘Faith without works is dead.’”
- St. Gregory the Great
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