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After Easter Sunday of Saint Thomas the Apostle
After Easter Sunday of Saint Thomas the Apostle
Sunday of Saint Thomas the Apostle
Written by V. Rev. John Shandra | 
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St. Thomas the Apostle is an example of innocent wonder and true devotedness to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. According to the Gospel, he was the one who checked Christ’s wounds to see if they were real. The Apostles were afraid of the Jews who were after them. They gathered together in the house and locked up all the doors and windows because of their fear of being persecuted. When Jesus Christ appeared and stood amongst them, they could not believe their eyes, at first fearing that they were seeing a ghost. Only after Christ told them that He is not a ghost but their teacher, Who had previously foretold them of His death and resurrection did they believe and rejoice together. The story of St. Thomas happened after this first appearance of Christ.
Thomas was not with them at that time. Therefore when he had heard about His Lord’s manifestation he simply wanted to see Jesus Himself. Moreover, to be fully convinced in the reality of Resurrection he wanted to touch His wounds. Jesus Christ had given him this opportunity and his innocent requirement was satisfied. St. Thomas the Apostle had believed that Jesus Christ’s resurrection was real and he expressed his faith by the words: "My Lord and my God!" This story is an example of how the Apostles were slowly transforming from uneducated men into the wise shepherds of God’s flock. They had their hard times but after Christ’s Glorious Resurrection and the Day of Pentecost they had become the cornerstones of the Lord’s Church.
Today I would like also to draw your attention to the Epistle reading of this Sunday because we must understand it as it contains wisdom and many examples of Christian life, together with good lessons of pure devotedness. Today’s epistle reading was from the Acts of the Apostles. This book opens for us an endless reserve of historical events from the time of Christ’s resurrection up until imprisonment of St. Paul the Apostle. Particularly, today’s reading describes early Christian life in Jerusalem. After the Day of Pentecost many people believed in the Lord and were baptized in His name. They were glad to see the Apostles and even touch them for they were full of God’s grace. This grace was expressed differently in different times but at that time "by the hands of the Apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people." The number of people who believed in the Lord continued to increase because they heard the sermons and saw the signs. These signs were needed to bring peoples attention to Christianity, as it was a relatively new religion to many. The Apostles had to convince the Jewish people that this Jesus whom they crucified was the Messiah they were waiting for so long. In addition, the signs were needed in order to spread the Good News of Jesus and the salvation he brought to all the ends of the world.
We know that we would sooner believe in something we can see and hear by ourselves. In the early stages of Christianity these signs were strong proofs of God’s presence among the believers and especially among the Apostles. Therefore, when people saw that the sick become healthy, those with unclean spirits become normal and everything was happening only through the prayers and the laying of hands on them by the Apostles, many were convinced that this new way of worshiping God was true and helpful. This is why the Christian community was growing so fast – people were convinced by the signs and the sermons, and joined the Church. In today’s epistle reading a very unusual sign has been brought to our attention: "they carried the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and pallets, in order that, as Peter went by, at least his shadow would fall upon some of them." What great faith they had! The Apostles were so busy preaching, praying and spreading the Words of Jesus that people were glad to get some relief and maybe healing from the SHADOW of Peter when he walked by. May the Name of the Lord be glorified for His wondrous signs!
One could ask, "Why do we no longer see such signs in the Church?" As I said previously, those days were the days of special need and care for the newly planted Church. We can compare the early days of Christianity with the seed and sprouts in a greenhouse. We plant our plants in the greenhouse because in the early stages of their development they need special care: more moisture, higher temperature and so on. We need to do this, in order to give them strength to survive strong winds and storms in the open. The same things happened then when the seed of Christianity needed extra care in order to survive. Now we have many things to convince ourselves in truthfulness of Christianity: first of all, we have Holy Scripture with all the facts about Christ, His work and His teachings; secondly, we have Holy Tradition which is nothing but the experience of the Church in living by Christ’s commandments and the Apostles’ teaching; thirdly, we have the long history and survival of the Church which managed to grow and thrive even though previously unheard of persecutions against it occurred in the 1st 3 centuries; fourthly, we can still witness the works of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in some of our Church members. All this is here for us to fortify our faith.
In my opinion, the major reason why very clear signs have ended in the Church’s life is that God does not want us to depend on them as it would be the worst thing that could happen to us. The problem is that if we got used to seeing the signs of God, we would not pay much attention to them.
Please consider this simple example. We just experienced a few dry years and people started to complain and wonder what is going to happen to them if the drought continued. In response to our prayers, we received from God the moisture we now have and we are starting to thank Him for it and also are thinking of Him more often.
Please, answer honestly, do you believe people think much about God during the years when they received everything they needed for their fields and houses? Not really, because they were used to the idea that everything is normal. We people need a reminder from God that everything good that happens to us is a result of His Grace. This applies to everyone, not just farmers.
The main thing is not to get used to what is Holy and Eternal. This is why in our lives we receive signs only from time to time – partly because we have many other things to convince us of the truth of Christianity and partly because our nature is weak and cannot bear heavenly sent signs all the time without getting used to them. When we get used to things we loose our ability to appreciate them, do we not?
In the epistle reading today we also heard about the persecution of the Apostles who were thrown into the public jail for their preaching. But as the hand of the Lord is always with those who serve Him honestly and devotedly, the Apostles were freed by an angel of the Lord and allowed to go and continue their works in the name of Jesus Christ.
The Apostles and many of the early Christians were persecuted and murdered by the ungodly because they stood up for their beliefs so that we would have the opportunity to experience a true life of love within Jesus Christ the Savior. Sadly, we very often neglect all the deeds of the Apostles and do not want to learn from their experiences.
Only few come to church regularly to learn and to give thanks to Our Lord for His love to us all. Only a few of us realize that the work of the Apostles was done for our sake, and that we need to follow the lessons they have given us for our salvation. Maybe not everyone realizes that our Christian life should be the life of love and unity, because this is what the Christians were often murdered for. My dear brothers and sisters, let’s not forget that we go to church not for somebody else’s sake but to learn the way of becoming true followers of Christ, which leads us to salvation. Let’s come to church not only to fulfill our obligations and customs but also to take part in the life of the church and preserve it for our children unchanged. Amen.
AUDIO sermon on this topic is available
