My dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. We are gathered here today to pay homage to your patron St. Thomas the Apostle and I would like to use this opportunity to reflect on what San Tomé, in his famous interaction with the Risen Lord, can teach us about worship and the liturgy.
As many of you would know, in the Gospel according to St. John we are told that Our Lord, after He was resurrected, appeared to the disciples, but Tomé was not among them. When this glorious encounter was recounted to him by the disciples, Thomas famously declared:
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. (Jn 20: 25)
A week later, Our Lord appeared to the disciples one more time, this time with St. Thomas present, and Our Lord said to him:
Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe. (Jn 20: 27)
St. Thomas is recorded as having responded:
My Lord and my God! (Jn 20: 28)
In other words, he fell silent! And I have no doubt that St Thomas would have knelt when silencing himself with these words of worship, because kneeling is the most perfect way of demonstrating that one is in the presence of the sacred.
My dear brothers and sisters, this episode has so much to teach us about the act of worship and the liturgy. To begin with, we must remember that Our Lord does not immediately chastise Thomas for his refusal to believe in the resurrection. This is because Our Lord appreciates that the minds we so pride ourselves on, are in fact feeble, and require physical aids to help our belief.
It is for this, among others, reason, that Our Lord instituted the sacraments, and above all the Eucharist. So that we might have physical aids to help aid our faith, and to direct our worship.
And yet, for some years now, our worship – the liturgy – has become more about the cognitive, about words. We have accretions to the liturgy that distract, rather than aid the process of worship. We have introductions to the Mass, introductions to the readings, directions on when to stand, what to think, there is talk, talk, talk! That there is excessive talk at Mass is bad enough, but there is this babbling even at the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, when in fact we should be silent, and kneeling in adoration, before His presence.
For generations the Church has recognized this truth, that it is not only the head that has to be engaged in worship, but the entire body; which is why we stand, we genuflect, we kneel. We clasp our hands before us, we cross ourselves. And yet, more recently, amidst all the chatter that we have introduced, the body has stopped being fully exercised in the act of worship. And because we only exercise our minds and not our bodies, we fail to internalize the great truths of our faith, that Jesus, Our Lord, is truly present in the Eucharist.
It was after St. Thomas acknowledged his belief that Our Lord, in his gentle manner, chided the apostle:
Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe. (Jn 20:29)
When he says these words, dear brothers and sisters, Our Lord is referring to all of us – who have not seen Him in the flesh but 'only' veiled under the signs of bread and wine; and experience his salvific touch 'only' through the sacraments. As I have already indicated, this belief is best demonstrated, and reiterated, not through some mental consent, but through an embodied response, we fall down on our knees, we genuflect.
Reflecting on this episode in the life of the Lord, and that of His church, I was reminded of the episode (John 9) where Our Lord heals the man who was born blind. After healing him, Our Lord returned and asked him if he believed in the Son of Man. The formerly blind man responded that he wished to see him so that he could believe in Him. Our Lord responds:
“You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” (Jn 9: 37)
The blind man, the Gospel reports:
... said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him. (Jn 9: 38)
Many translations of this verse indicate that this assertion of belief, the act of worship, involved kneeling and prostration. He believed, and knelt down before the Lord.
My dear brothers and sisters, on this day when we celebrate the memory of St. Thomas the Apostle, let us imitate his practice, esteem the physical presence of Our Lord among us and esteem the act of kneeling. Let us genuflect whenever we pass before the Blessed Sacrament. Let us kneel when we await the reception of Our Lord in communion; and kneel in silence after we have received Him. Let us return to privilege the silences of the Mass and remember that it is often in these silences that Our Lord speaks to us.
May Our Lord bless you all, and may your patron St. Thomas intercede for you all. San Tomé, rogai por nós.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
(A version of this homily was first preached to the faithful at the chapel of San Tomé, Pangim on 1 Feb 2026. For the Sunday homily faithful to the lectionary, click here.)
(Image reference: St Thomas doubts Christ, Joseph E. Nuttgens, 1944, St Teresa’s church, Beaconsfield, UK.)
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