Saint Thomas the Apostle

 The Collect

Everliving God, who strengthened your apostle Thomas with firm and certain faith in your Son's resurrection: Grant us so perfectly and without doubt to believe in Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God, that our faith may never be found wanting in your sight; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The Psalm
126

The Readings
Habakkuk 2:1-4    +     Hebrews 10:35-11:1    +    John 20:24-29

For you need endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. For yet 

     "in a very little while, the one who is coming will come and will not delay; 

     but my righteous one will live by faith."

~ Hebrews 10:37-38a

Poor St. Thomas. He is so frequently, and quite unfairly, remembered for his doubt. And on top of that, his feast day is a mere four days before Christmas--come on, who can be expected to remember and make space for one more thing at this time of year?

And yet, as is often the case, there is a logic to the church's calendar. There is a distinctive Advent quality to the readings for St. Thomas. And on this winter solstice, when we hunker down for the longest night of the year, we prepare to turn toward the dawning light of Christ. As the blog 'Laudable Practice' reflects:

In the very darkest day of the year, the traditional calendar celebrates the Apostle who in the darkness of the upper room beheld the glorious Light which had filled and transfigured the darkness of the Tomb. In the words of Keble:

Thus, ever brighter and more bright,
On those He came to save
The Lord of new-created light
Dawned gradual from the grave - 'St Thomas' Day', The Christian Year.

By celebrating St Thomas in the dark days of December, the Church witnesses to the created order caught up in the Lord's Resurrection, and thus being sign of Life and Light. For from old St Thomas's Day, the days come "every brighter and more bright".

Then there is the proximity of Christmas Day. We will hear in the Christmas Gospel, "And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not". St Thomas's Day prepares us to gaze upon Light Incarnate, with the Apostle to confess "My Lord and my God" of the Infant in the Manger, no less than the Risen One.

Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, as we ready ourselves for this holy Christmastide, give us the gift of faith, that we may be among the blessed ones who have not seen and yet believe; for your love's sake. Amen.

Christ's Appearance to St. Thomas,
from the St. Alban's Psalter (12th century illuminated English manuscript)