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The Easter Cycle
Saturday
“Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the
nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” Thomas must see to believe. The Lord
deals with this weakness in His disciple with a condescension that is striking. Nevertheless He
does not fail to admonish him, “Because thou hast seen Me, Thomas, thou hast believed; blessed
are they that have not seen and have believed” (Gospel).
Thomas is the representative of that vast throng of men who refuse to accept the testimony of
the gospel or of the Church. They accept nothing but that which they can see with their own
eyes and touch with their own hands. Thomas is also typical of all those who, though they
accept the testimony of the gospel and of the Church, yet in practical life never rise above a
purely natural level in their thinking and in their outlook on life. They recite the Creed with
the Church, but they lack the spirit of faith. Many Christians and many Catholics have such
an attitude. They reason, judge, speak, and act in exactly the same manner as the world about
them thinks and acts. Practically speaking, they have no higher ideal than any other man of the
world. They are satisfied with health, prosperity, a livelihood, an interesting occupation, and
amusing pastimes. When they encounter anything unpleasant or when they suffer hardships,
they look about for a scapegoat, disclaiming all personal responsibility, and exhaust all the
means at hand to escape from that which is hard or unpleasant. There is nothing supernatural
in their point of view or in their manner of acting.
The majority of Christians and of Catholics who subscribe fervently to the creed of the
Church, allow themselves to be governed by worldly considerations, by the opinion of their
superiors, or by the claims of their worldly occupations, or the needs of their human career.
Their actions are governed by human respect; they are swayed by any emotion; and they are
covered with a mantle of self-love and pride. Even those consecrated to God and living behind
the walls of the cloister are often ruled by purely natural motives far more than they themselves
suspect. More than they are aware of it, their actions are governed by self-love in its manifold
forms, rather than by motives of faith and the love of God. They live lives that are far from being
supernatural. They do not live, as they should, by faith, with their gaze fixed on Christ, on God,
and on His holy will. For this reason they experience so much unrest, so much uncertainty,
such instability, weakness, and emptiness in their spiritual life. “Blessed are they that have not
seen and have believed.”
“Know also this, that in the last days shall come dangerous times. Men shall be lovers of
themselves, covetous, haughty, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, wicked,
without affection, without peace, slanderers, incontinent, unmerciful, without kindness, traitors,
stubborn, puffed up, and lovers of pleasures more than of God; having an appearance
indeed of godliness, but denying the power thereof ” (2 Tm 3:1–5). We are tempted to believe
that the evil times described here by St. Paul have already arrived. Even in the very strongholds
of piety, many pious and spiritual persons have become worldly and exert themselves only in
the search for pleasure. They measure life in terms of the senses. Theirs is a piety which is little
more than a continuous interplay of sensations and emotions. Such piety naturally shrinks from
difficulties, exertions, and self-sacrifice. It occupies itself with spiritual things, even with prayer
and the sacraments, only as a means of satisfying its emotional needs. The soul is thus deprived
of the benefits it should reap from these exercises. The reward of such effort is merely a desolate
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