- 1 Timothy 1:17 -
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor
and
glory for ever and ever. Amen.
______________________________________________________
You can rest today. You know the KING. He has it all under control. You
can
give him your "to-do" list. He holds all time in his hands. He is powerful
and over all things. Enjoy each moment. The KING is on the throne.
- Pearls From Heaven
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December 21st - St. Thomas the Apostle
St. Thomas was ordered by Our Lord to go to India, which he did in the
company of Abbanes, a provost of one of the kings of India who had come to
Caesarea looking for an architect. After dealing with this King and
building
a palace for him, not on earth, but in Heaven by giving his treasure to
the
poor, and after converting multitudes in India through his innumerable
miracles, Thomas headed to Upper India.
There he converted Queen Migdonia and her sister to the Catholic Faith.
From
then on, they refused to lie with their pagan husbands. The King became
furious and ordered that Thomas be brought before him, his hands and his
feet bound. He was commanded to reconcile the wives to their husband. But
Apostle answered the King saying that he could not do this so long as he
professed a false faith.
Irate, the King commanded that pieces of burning iron be brought forth and
that the Apostle should stand on them in his bare feet. And immediately,
by
the will of Our Lord, a spring of water sprang up and quenched the iron.
Next, the King, following the counsel of his brother-in-law Carisius, had
him thrown into a fiery furnace, but miraculously it was made so cold that
the next day he issued out all safe, without harm.
Then Carisius said to the King: "Command him to sacrifice to the god of
the
sun. That will bring down on him the wrath of his God, who so far has been
protecting him." They tried to force Thomas to do this, but the Apostle
responded that the devil was in the idol, and that God would break it to
pieces the moment he would approach it. And so it happened.
After that miracle, the high priest killed St. Thomas piercing him through
with a sword. The King and Carisius did not convert, but fled away, for
they
saw that the people would avenge the Apostle.
Comments of the late Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira: (died 1995)
Our Lord said that the Apostles would work more and even greater miracles
than He Himself did: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on
me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these
shall
he do; because I go unto my Father (John 14:12). Why did He say this? What
principle is behind these words?
It is not easy to respond with precision to this question, but among many
answers, there is one worthy of attention.
A person who saw Our Lord Jesus Christ and heard the words that issued
from
His divine mouth already experienced a kind of special miracle, which was
to
see with his own eyes the Incarnate God. Our Lord's presence was so
supernatural, so divine, so out of pro****tion to any human measure that
for
a man of faith, nothing else would be necessary to believe in His
divinity.
His presence was more than any miracle imaginable.
For this reason He censured those who were asking for miracles. He
addressed
them as a "faithless and perverse generation" who only believe when they
see
miracles. Thus, it is a blessing to believe without miracles. St. Thomas
also received a similar criticism from Our Lord: "Because thou hast seen
me,
Thomas, thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have not seen, and have
believed" (John 20:29).
This selection mentions some of St. Thomas' astoni****ng miracles in India.
He worked one miracle after another, but still the King did not convert.
His
mind was made up and he did not want to believe. In the end, he remained
an
unbeliever and allowed his high priest to kill St. Thomas. One miracle,
two
miracles, many miracles were not enough for him. When he was defeated by
the
evidence of the miracles, he became an accomplice to the murder of St.
Thomas.
This mentality is shared by those who are not satisfied with normal
graces,
but are always asking for miracles. In appearance, they are thirsty for
miracles, but at depth they are too lazy to open their souls to grace. If
God would give a miracle, it would not satisfy them. They would become
more
hardened, and even reject the saint who worked the miracle. They share in
some way the psychology of the pagan King.
This leads us to consider the depth of human wickedness. Man stained by
original sin and excessively complacent with his actual sins has a strong
tendency to close his soul to grace, even to miracles. Often nothing but
very exceptional graces can touch a soul like this.
Another symptom of such hardness is when a person, like the King in India,
is subject to superstitions. I knew a person with a great vocation who
came
to our fight for the Church but never had a true generosity toward Our
Lady.
He ended by going astray. He was a superstitious man, always carrying an
amulet that he believed had occult powers. I don't think his defection was
caused by the malefic power of the amulet. I think that by relying on
magical powers he rejected the grace and disregarded the rich supernatural
help the Church places at our disposition.
A point also worthy of consideration is the attitude of St. Thomas
regarding
his previous infidelity. He was unfaithful when he doubted the
Resurrection
of Our Lord. He was chastised for that: he was the only Apostle who was
not
present at the death of Our Lady. He arrived late, when Our Lady was
already
starting her Assumption in the air. With a marvelous manifestation of her
tenderness for him, she took off her girdle and let it fall for him. He
was
chastised, but at the same time she inundated him with her tenderness.
St. Thomas converted because of her sweetness as well as Our Lord's
severity
and became a truly penitent soul. What is a truly penitent soul?
It is one who committed a bad action, but with shame and sadness repents
of
the evil he did and, when the occasion presents itself he takes advantage
of
it to admit his bad action. He is happy to humiliate himself in public and
accuse himself of the evil that he committed. He hates his sin and wants
others to hate it also. This is the profile of the truly penitent soul.
Regarding sins of purity, this rule only applies for those sins that are
public and notorious for obvious reasons.
Even after this person makes expiation for his fault and practices acts of
virtue, he always has before him the sin he committed. This is what David
sang in one of his penitential psalms: "Peccatum meum contra me est
semper" - my sin is always before me. That is, I hate my sin, it will
stand
there facing me all my life, and only my death will annihilate it.
Repentance is a swelling hatred for the evil that one has done. Insofar as
a
man comes to understand the consequences of his bad action, he is
increasingly sorrowful. To be implacable toward ourselves is one of the
starting points of the Catholic and counter-revolutionary spirit.
There is another way one can note this sense of penance in a man. A person
who is convinced of the effects of original sin in himself likes to be
reprimanded. He is grateful when someone shows him that he did something
wrong. He feels relieved when he is reproved, because from then on he can
avoid that error and improve.
St. Thomas went far and wide evangelizing and I am sure that, like St.
Peter, he wept over his past infidelity. I am sure he repented publicly
without fear of causing scandal or a bad impression. Penance, when it is
sincere, only attracts and advances others on the path of virtue.
Here are some points for an examination of conscience: Are we really sorry
for the sins we committed? Is our repentance as serious as it should be?
Do
we have a true severity toward the evil we committed? Do we always have
our
sins before us so that we might hate them and make reparation for them?
Are
we happy when others reprove us for our faults or do we flee from those
who
criticize us with rage in our heart?
If this examination reveals that we are not as penitent as we should be,
we
can direct our prayers to all the penitent saints who are in Heaven -
especially St. Thomas - and ask them to have mercy on us, give us the
grace
of true repentance, penance, and the splendid sadness of contrition along
with a hatred for the evil that is in our souls.
The soul with the true spirit of penance loves without self-interest the
virtue opposed to the sin he committed. This soul attracts Our Lady. She
comes to his soul, enters, and remains in it, bringing with her the Holy
Ghost her Spouse, Our Lord Jesus Christ her Son, and God the Father. Let
us
beg her to make us worthy of this.
See pictures at:
http://www.traditioninaction.org/SOD/j208sd_ThomasApostle_12-21.html
Saint Quote:
''Be assured that we shall obtain more grace and merit in
one day by suffering patiently the afflictions that come to us
from God or from our neighbor than we would acquire in ten
years by mortifications and other exercises that are of our
own choice."
-St. Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church, 1567-1622
Bible Quote:
But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you besides
that
which we have preached to you, let him be anathema. As we said before, so
now I say again: If any one preach to you a gospel, besides that which you
have received, let him be anathema. (Galatians 1:8-9)
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On the Holy Ghost:
''I adore You, O Precious Blood of Jesus, flower of creation,
fruit of virginity, ineffable instrument of the Holy Spirit, and I
rejoice at the thought that You came from the drop of virginal
blood on which eternal Love impressed its movement; You
were assumed by the Word and deified in His person."
-(St. Albert the Great, Doctor of the Church, 1206-1280)
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