Year A 2nd Easter 2026 Thomas of Doubt and Faith

Year A Easter 2 2026, 12 April 2026

St George’s Episcopal, Fredericksburg, VA

Celtic Service: “Thomas of Doubt and Faith”

Collect: Almighty God, who through your Son Jesus Christ overcame death and  opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Christ’s resurrection, may be raised by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

John 20:19-31

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." 

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe." A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may 

come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

I served my diaconal placement and my first position as a priest for over three years at St. Thomas’ down in Richmond in the Ginter Park neighborhood. I was ordained there, and St. Thomas’s Church and I have had a special bond since then. Far from belittling him from the moniker Doubting Thomas, I see someone who had a resounding faith. And only got labeled when he said aloud the thing many of us would have thought in that instance. Faithful Thomas sums him up better, for me.

If nothing else, my hero Thomas shows one thing, ALWAYS BE HONEST TO GOD. That for me is the stance of prayer. Always bring what is on your heart, whatever that is, to God. God knows anyway, what sense does it make to play games and say what is expected or polite. If you cannot be honest with God, you cannot be honest with yourself. 

Express your doubts. Get them out there. God is not troubled by them, and it helps clear the air.

Express your fears. That way God can help you get to “Fear Not! For I am with you always!”

Express your hopes. God may show you something even bigger, and grander, and better.

Express your wants and desires. If they are not in line with what God wants for you this is a way for you to be turned and converted to God’s better way.

When Thomas was honest, Jesus met him where he was. Maybe we need to be more like Thomas. (Source: http://satucket.com/lectionary/Thomas.htm) 

According to Church Tradition, Thomas went further than any of the other disciples, heading all the way to India, to the Kerala district, to share the Gospel with “all the world.” There are churches there to this day that claim direct connection to Thomas and his teachings about Jesus. I saw a PBS documentary one time saying that Roman galleons seeking spices actually caught the trade winds from Arabia and would go to India and return on the opposite winds six months later. The supposedly outlandish idea is not so outlandish. According to tradition he was killed with a spear, and so is often depicted with one when made into an icon or other art works.

POEM (A line from a hymn about Thomas and his faith)

These things did Thomas hold for real: the warmth of blood, the chill of steel, 

the grain of wood, the heft of stone, the last frail twitch of blood and bone.

His brittle certainties denied that one could live when one had died, 

until his fingers read like Braille the markings of the spear and nail.

May we, O God, by grace believe and, in believing, still receive 

the Christ who held His raw palms out and beckoned Thomas from his doubt.

(Thomas Troeger, 1984, Psalter/Hymnal of the Christian Reformed Church)

May we be beckoned by Christ, in our doubts, in our fears, in our hopes. Be like Thomas, however you come, bring all of who you are to God. God loves you just the way you are. Amen