Wednesday, July 3, 2013

My Lord and My God!

 How right they are to adore you! - Song of Songs 1:4
 
Jesus and Holy Father Pope Francis
 

“Is not this gazing upon the Eucharistic Saviour
a magnificent profession of our faith in the
Divinity of Christ, such as was made by
the incredulous Thomas?  When St. Thomas said,
‘My Lord and my God!’ (see John 20:24-28)
we may be sure he did not keep
his eyes cast down, but looked with open
and sincere gaze into the eyes of his Master.”
 
Servant of God, Fr. Lukas Etlin, O.S.B. (+1927)
 
 
Detail - The Incredulity of Saint Thomas (Caravaggio)
 
St. Thomas the Apostle
Martyr (d. 74)
Carried and fearlessly preached the Gospel to India
Southwest coast of India call themselves 'Christians of St. Thomas'
Martyred in India with the piercing from the swords of four soldiers
FEAST DAY - July 3
 
 
Besides tradition, we have the witness of Saints and Fathers of the Church that St. Thomas preached in India. The following powerful quote is from St. Ephraim the Syrian, in a writing on the devil. He discusses the power of the Apostles through Christ from the devil's perspective:

"The evil one wails, "Where then can I flee from the righteous? I incited Death to kill the apostles as if to escape from their scourges by their death. More than ever now I am scourged harshly. The apostle I killed in India [has come] to Edessa before me. Here is he and also there. I went there, there he is. Here and there I found him, and I am gloomy. Did that merchant carry the bones? Or perhaps, indeed, they carried him!" (http://sor.cua.edu/Personage/Qadishe/StThomas.html)
 
 St Thomas, pray for us!
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2 comments:

  1. RuthJuly 3, 2013 at 8:01 AM

    Greetings Janette! Yes, indeed! St. Thomas is 'our apostle'! India has 3 rites of the Catholic Church: Latin rite(we owe this to the Portuguese who arrived on our soil, St. Gonsalo Garcia had a Portuguese father and our surnames are all Portuguese) and Syro-Malabar rite and Syro-Malankara rite (South of India) which owe their origin to St. Thomas. St. Alphonsa is a Syro- Malabar saint, and the 2nd saint of Indian origin.

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  2. JanetteJuly 3, 2013 at 11:40 AM

    From across the pond - greetings to you, Ruth! What a special day for you - CELEBRATE heartily!!! Thank you for these tidbits of our rich and varied Catholic history. We are brought into a most wonderful family through our Baptism! Surely the best is yet to be!

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