Taste and See!

Today is the Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle. Beautifully, his quest for tangible "proof" in the resurrection of the dead, the turning of the tide that sweeps all of humanity under her tow, was initiated by this man. A man of science we might say. A man who wanted to affirm sensory data, to take in all the reports, not just of hearsay or someone else's witness, but quantifiable, experiential evidence. Thomas wanted to "taste and see that the Lord is good," and would not rest with merely the fragrance of that food from another's plate. He would feast his own eyes on Incorruptible Flesh, and would plunge his own hands into those very real wounds to be sure this was no impostor.

Good for Thomas. Faith needs works like this sometimes. We should all press on to taste and see, to experience the Lord not just through another's feelings or philosophy. We should enter through that Door ourselves with our whole person, and never be afraid of the results. God has given us faith and reason, not as enemies, but as complements. One reaches up from the earth, the other shimmers in the heavenly realms. "Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit soars to the contemplation of Truth." (Pope John Paul II)

I hear a tone of quiet peace and an invitation in Jesus, not an angry tone, when he says to Thomas the Questioner, Thomas the Seeker, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”

On that day, the experiential became the quitessential, the climax of all questions.... So to Thomas the Scientific we are grateful, and we are invited to taste and see ourselves. He is Risen!