On July 3rd, we celebrated the Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle. St. Thomas is known for coming full circle in faith, from unbelief in Christ’s resurrection to faith and believing. St. Thomas needed something concrete and Jesus offered it to him.
I am amazed how the apostles were able to carry on Jesus’ life by their lives, their witness, and their perseverance in the faith against many odds after the resurrection. I believe that faith is strengthened by the experience of God in our life. The apostles knew Jesus before and after the resurrection. Like them, we also experience God. Do we always recognize these encounters? Can we learn from them or see God’s hand in them?
When we grow in faith, I believe that we also grow in the virtue of humility. Humility helps us to recognize our dependence on God; it brings us to truth.
Prayer is essential to our growing in faith. You might say that daily prayer is food that nourishes and sustains our faith. The reverse is also true; it is faith that sustains our prayer.
Faith is being able to accept that we need God in our lives. Faith is our willingness to walk humbly with God through prayer and experience, and like St. Thomas to proclaim, “My Lord and my God”.
