By Dylan Stefanich, Special to The Message
Home Parish: Holy Cross Parish, Fort Branch
Education: Pontifical North American College in Rome, Italy, Class of 2029
Saint: St. Thomas the Apostle
Editor’s Note: This year, Diocesan seminarians focused their annual seminarian profiles on a saint or someone on the road to sainthood who gives them hope in honor of the Jubilee Year of Hope.
St. Thomas the Apostle is often known as “Doubting Thomas” for refusing to believe the
Apostles’ account of the Resurrection until he could personally see and touch Christ’s wounds. However, this is a bit misleading, because St. Thomas regularly shows profound faith and hope in Jesus all throughout the Gospel. Most famously, St. Thomas sees and touches Christ’s wounds and proclaims: “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). Thus, the so-called “Doubting Thomas” boldly professes Jesus’s divinity, and this holy conviction would eventually grant him the crown of martyrdom.
St. Thomas offers me hope because, in my life, I have also experienced doubts and uncertainty about what Jesus has called me to do. It is comforting to know that even St. Thomas, who lived personally with Jesus for three years, had difficulty with the reality of Our Lord’s words and promises. Rather than doubt having the final say, however, St. Thomas’s hope in Our Lord’s promises is what eventually won him the title he now rightfully bears: “Saint.” I hope for this, as well.
St. Thomas is a beautiful example of how hope in Our Lord can convert us from people of doubt to true disciples of faith, hope and love. His story reminds us that conviction and trust in God are often difficult and may take time, but doubt never has to end in defeat. Like St. Thomas, doubt for us might very well be the precursor to a life given over radically for our own Friend, Lord, and God, Jesus Christ. May it be so!