Believing and Rejoicing

A poignant moment of faith comes in John’s Gospel with the meeting between Jesus and Thomas the Apostle after the Resurrection. Eight days earlier, Jesus appeared to the disciples, but Thomas, who had gone away to mourn alone, was not with them. Now, when Jesus appeared for the second time, with Thomas among the Apostles, Thomas was unable to comprehend what his eyes were seeing. Offering proof of His triumphant return, Jesus invites Thomas to place his hands in the nail marks in Jesus’ hands and the wound in His side.

We read the exchange between Jesus and Thomas in John 20:26-29.

Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing.”

Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”

As we face trials and uncertainties, we might relate to Thomas and his desire for proof, but another moment in Scripture points to a better response. St. Elizabeth’s words to Mary in the Visitation illustrate the faithful response to God’s promises and the markings of true faith.

Elizabeth says of Mary, “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled” (Luke 1:45).

Jesus will echo those words in His exchange with Thomas 30-plus years later.

Mary believed in God’s promise of a Messiah before experiencing the miraculous Resurrection—she was truly blessed by not needing physical evidence in order to accept the truth. She trusted in the prophecies and the promises of God, recognizing that He is our ultimate salvation. Mary did not allow any obstacles to hinder her faith, and for that, she was blessed and rejoiced.

How easily we can fail to believe, looking for signs and wonders as caveats of believing. If we fail to view the world through the eyes of faith, with a heart willing to see God at work, obstacles can mount daily. Rather, let us see and accept the truth of God’s promises fulfilled and embrace Jesus’ glorious victory over sin, death, and the troubles of this world.

Mary allowed grace to fill every ounce of her being—strengthening her to give a daily “yes” to follow and believe. Before Jesus even explained to the disciples that the work of God is to believe in the One sent by God, Mary believed. As she stood before Elizabeth with the Fulfillment incubating within her, her Magnificat burst forth:

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46,47).

We receive the same promises through the Eucharist; we see these Mysteries unfold with Jesus literally within us every time we receive the Eucharist. The grace that filled every ounce of Mary’s being is available to us abundantly; we merely need to ask, accept, and cooperate with it.

“Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7).

What keeps us from asking? Although Thomas is credited as doubting, Jesus did not withhold from St. Thomas what he asked for to help him believe.

Mary reminds us that God “has mercy on those who fear him in every generation” (Luke 1:50). Believing without seeing, however difficult, is not impossible. God would never ask the impossible. He is a loving God who works the impossible within us through cooperation with grace. No one exemplifies the powerful result of allowing oneself to be filled with the grace of God more than the Blessed Virgin Mary. May we turn to her and trust her intercession so we too may be counted among the blessed who have not seen and yet believe.

Copyright 2025 by Allison Gingras

Edited by Theresa Linden