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Then [Jesus] said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” -John 20:28
What a humble, loving, and merciful God we have! He meets our every need. St. Pope John Paul II taught that what humanity needs most is God’s merciful love: “There is nothing more man needs than Divine Mercy – that love which is benevolent, which is compassionate, which raises man above his weakness to the infinite heights to the holiness of God.” And so, in the fullness of time, the Father sent His Son to become incarnate, like us. He became like one of us to accomplish our salvation (CCC 461). In becoming like us, Jesus became “an image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). Remarkably, in Jesus, God Himself was able to be touched.
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we saw it, and testify to it, and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have fellowship with us; and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
1 John 1:1-3
St. Thomas the Apostle needed to touch the Lord’s wounds to help him believe in the Resurrection. Some take this as a fault, but I see it as even further evidence of God’s Divine Mercy. God the Father created us with physical bodies. We learn through our senses: hearing, sight, touch, taste, and smell. St. Thomas Aquinas taught that we are one being made up of a unity of body and soul: “…the soul by its very essence is the form of the body giving it its act of existing. Hence it [the soul] is united to the body essentially and directly” (Disputed Questions on the Soul, article 1).
We need to experience God through the senses of our bodies in order for Him to have access to our souls. In His love and mercy, Jesus comes to us in the sacraments precisely so we can continue to have a personal, physical encounter with Him. The water flows over our bodies in Baptism. We smell and feel the holy oils used in Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders. We hear the words of absolution in Reconciliation. We see God’s love present in the bride and groom in Marriage. The priest communicates healing through the laying on of hands and the use of holy oils in the Anointing of the Sick. Amazingly, we encounter the Lord in all the senses in the Blessed Sacrament: we hear the words of consecration; we see the host and wine that becomes the Bread of Life and Precious Blood; we taste, smell, and touch the Body and Blood of the Lord as we receive Him into our bodies.
Lord, how can I thank you for meeting my every need in the Sacraments of the Church? How can I offer you my grateful response to your humility, mercy, and love?