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was not with Jesus but with his inconsistent fellow disciples.
Thomas had not been there and was therefore excluded in
terms of faith experiences! As a result history branded him as
the “doubting Thomas.”

There is a place in God’s shalom even for those who have
been raising their voices against the collective experience of a
believing community. Jesus’ appearance before Thomas on his
demand shows the inclusive dimension of God’s shalom. The
new experience of God’s Shalom enabled Thomas to utter his
newfound faith in the memorable words, “My Lord and my
God!

The term “Lord” is an expression that had been used by
several others. “My God” is a rather a new title. Nobody has
previously addressed Jesus like this. It marks a leap of faith. The
faith that St. Thomas had rediscovered was not in a moment.
But over the “the eight days” between the day he was told the
experience of other disciples where he felt dejected and excluded,
and the very moment he also experienced the appearance
of resurrected Jesus. The Eight days of feelings of exclusion
silently transformed him and made Thomas to contribute new
perspectives to the faith community.

This is a challenge to the present day church. There are
many young people still seeking Shalom in their experience
of brokenness, exclusion and lack of recognition. And at the
same time these musings often appear irrelevant to them. It is
the joint responsibility of the center and periphery to recognise
the relevance of each other, because Shalom is a collective
experience of all creation. According to Jesus, shalom is the
goal and culmination of his crucifixion and resurrection. He
has done everything necessary to restore God’s shalom order,
relationships, stewardship, beauty, and rhythm.

Rev. Dr. T. I James
CSI Cathedral, Calicut
Diocese of Malabar

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Lenten Meditations Re - Imaging People