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St. Thomas the Apostle is well known for his famous line in the Gospel of John, "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe" (John 20:24-25).
This single verse gave him the title of "Doubting Thomas," and paints him as an apostle of little faith.
However, earlier in the gospels St. Thomas reveals his eagerness to follow after Jesus, even to death:
Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
Following Jesus
Pope Benedict XVI pointed out the remarkable faith of St. Thomas in a general audience he gave in 2006:
On that occasion Thomas said to his fellow disciples: "Let us also go, that we may die with him" (Jn 11: 16). His determination to follow his Master is truly exemplary and offers us a valuable lesson: it reveals his total readiness to stand by Jesus, to the point of identifying his own destiny with that of Jesus and of desiring to share with him the supreme trial of death.
Benedict XVI continues his reflection by connecting it to our own lives and how we are called to follow Jesus, wherever he goes:
The most important thing is never to distance oneself from Jesus.
Moreover, when the Gospels use the verb "to follow," it means that where he goes, his disciple must also go.
Thus, Christian life is defined as a life with Jesus Christ, a life to spend together with him.
St. Thomas reminds us that our goal in the Christian life should be to always follow Jesus, both in life and in death.
Pope Benedict XVI reiterates this point by quoting from one of St. Paul's letters in the New Testament:
St. Paul writes something similar when he assures the Christians of Corinth: "You are in our hearts, to die together and to live together" (II Cor 7: 3). What takes place between the Apostle and his Christians must obviously apply first of all to the relationship between Christians and Jesus himself: dying together, living together, being in his Heart as he is in ours.
We need to remember that if we want to follow Jesus, we need to follow him everywhere, imitating St. Thomas' willingness to die with Jesus.
