One maxim which I find myself using with parishioners is: "The opposite of faith is not doubt. It is certainty." Often in television dramas a priest or nun is depicted as suddenly having doubts about the faith or the Church. This inevitably leads to the person wrestling with and failing to continue in his or her vocation. St Augustine speaks of Christian life as being characterized by holy desire. The Lord has taught us: "Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you." (Mtt 7: 7) We can be thankful that Thomas had doubts because it gave the evangelist an opportunity to give us a lesson on how to deal with our own doubts. The important message lies not in the doubts themselves, as understandable as they are, but in the response of Thomas when he is confronted by the Lord: "My Lord and my God!" (Jn 20 28) Thomas is not defiant. He is not certain in his disbelief. He submits his will to the evidence placed before him. We too, in times of doubt, need to have the desire for truth that leads us to acknowledge and opens us up to a deeper faith shorn of wishful and magical thinking.
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