Слово на вечерне, в первый день Пасхи

“Unless I see the mark of the nails in His hand, and put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I have no faith” (John 20:25). And there is unbelief among the apostles! - And when? On the very first day of resurrection! At the very first appearance of the Risen One! So you must always be on spiritual guard! So no rank, no place, no day can save you from the danger of unbelief! Just as the sun can be eclipsed at any hour of the day, in the middle of noon, so faith can fade away in the midst of the clearest day of knowledge of God and revelation of God. Since what happened to the apostles expresses the common lot of humanity, we must carefully delve into the sad adventure that befell one of the Lord’s close disciples. This is, without a doubt, why it was allowed, this is why it is proclaimed during real worship, because it contains a saving lesson. Let's extract it from the event if possible. What was the cause of unbelief in Thomas? The most ordinary and simple thing is absence: “do not be with them” (John 20:25). We don’t know what kept Saint Thomas from being where everyone else was; it is only obvious that if he were now “with his fellow disciples, he would see the Teacher on an equal basis with them, and, therefore, would not fall into the temptation of doubt. A circumstance that is worth special note, because even now it is a source of unbelief. For where does it begin and why does it happen? Because they shy away from the society of believers, they stop participating in the sacraments of the Church and being sanctified by them, they abandon worship, and they let go of the Gospel. Having thus broken away from an indestructible rock, is it surprising that they are carried along by swells, winds and storms, or fall into the abyss? Having fallen out of a ship, it is difficult to fight the waves, no matter how skilled one is. Meanwhile, whoever keeps himself in the Church, continues, even in spite of his passions, to be sanctified by its sacraments, in one way or another, at one time or another, he will be saved from doubt: the spirit of faith that dominates the Church will penetrate him too, the leaven of love and devotion will penetrate him too. After this, it is impossible to give better advice than not to withdraw from the company of believers under any pretext, not to abandon the Sacraments and rites of the Church: this will save you from many things, among other things, from doubt. But let's see what the apostle got from his doubt? Alas, he ended up in an arbitrary hell. Yes, to hell; I think that he himself did not call his situation differently when he described it to others. When all the other disciples were overwhelmed with joy, Thomas grieved and was tormented. Out of love for the Teacher (for it was in all its strength), he extremely desired His resurrection, was ready to give his life for it, and doubt permeated this desire in the most terrible way; from this struggle an internal cross was formed, on which Thomas would have remained, perhaps forever, if the Teacher had not hastened to remove it. What, do you think, even now brings disbelief to the soul it infects? Nothing but darkness, hunger, boredom, sadness, confusion and despair. You might be interested in: