Witnesses — we meet them again this week. In Mark’s Gospel, the mourning companions of Jesus would not believe Mary Magdalene “when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her” (Mk 16:10). Today’s Gospel is the well-known episode where the apostle Thomas, unwilling to believe the witness of the others that Jesus was alive, demands the outrageous “proof” of being able to put his hand into the wound in Jesus’ side. It is difficult to hold on to faith. We always do want proof. Even though Jesus grants Thomas’ wish, he also admonishes him: “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” We are those people who have not seen; we have faith because of the testimony of others, to which we add our own personal commitment at some point. Today let’s honor the witnesses in our own lives who handed on faith to us. Of course I think of my parents, but not only parents — also teachers, friends, chance encounters with faith-filled people, spiritual writings, the words of Scripture. In my life I also give thanks for the many people I’ve known whose faith has been tested by adversity — minority communities I was privileged to walk with, whose faith persisted through adversity, others who have died with difficulty but with steadfast faith. My faith witnesses have become for me like a gentle stream of faith I swim in. Then I don’t have to work so hard to understand it all; I only need to become part of the stream of belief flowing through time, from the side of Christ into which Thomas placed his hand, to us today.
— Blog entry by Sister Mary Garascia; photo copyright Sprocket2cog on Wikimedia Commons