Notes from Greencastle

Mar. 30, 2008

Thomas

   Been waiting a long time for today's Gospel, because it's one about which I feel rather strongly. Here are the two things I've been wanting to say, one of them new to me this morning, the other has been stewing for a long time, both built on one point.

    The thing that I've never heard anyone focus on before* , is that St. Thomas had specific requirements for his belief.   "Unless I see the mark of the nails . . ." His doubt was not a refusal to believe -- it was a rational skepticism.   And once he had the evidence he needed, he believed wholeheartedly.

    In apologetics

-- all the work of explaining the catholic faith to others -- it usually seems to me that the person who is asking me questions doesn't have Thomas's willingness to believe. I need to remember to ask the question: What evidence would be enough for you, to convince you the claims of the catholic church were true?

Feelings of doubt: A lot of us who do believe in Christ, and in the claims of the catholic church, are prone to feeling of doubt all the same. And Thomas is such a great model for us, because he knew what he needed to believe, and he could be content with that. Each of us has reasons we believe -- good solid reasons based on hard-won knowledge and experience, I should hope. And when those feelings of doubt come, we can go back, again and again, and remember what it took for us to believe, and let it be enough for us to keep believing.

*perhaps due to my limited experience -- forgive me now for unknowingly repeating what someone else has said much better elsewhere

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Comments

Mar. 30, 2008 - I agree!

Posted by deirdre2

I never understood why preachers made Thomas out to be the bad guy. On the contrary, he wasn't about to subscribe to a second-hand faith. He wanted to believe what HE believed, not something he'd been told to believe in by someone else.

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Mar. 31, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by greencastle

It puzzles me, too. I guess maybe he gets the bad wrap from people who never struggle with doubt? OTOH, I guess if all ten of your fellows and then some had the same story, that is pretty good evidence. Unless maybe the apostles had a history of playing practical jokes that somehow didn't make it into the Gospels, lol.

Took a look at your blog -- glad you stopped by and commented which made me look. My mom recovered pretty much entirely from one significant stroke and maybe one or two smaller ones after. Am glad to see you are doing better already, woohoo! What a crazy, unpredictable thing life is, eh?

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Why "Greencastle"?

We have a green castle in our back yard. We named our school after the castle. (We were required to name it something. I don't know why. It was on the form.) Now I've named my blog after our school. Because it's supposed to be a blog about our homeschool. But I blog about other things, too.