The Risen Christ’s Appearance to the Disciples
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit. “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”
Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to them, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” John 20:19-29
Faith
For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life. John 3:16
“Let our faith in God be awakened; let us reflect that everything is close to him.” + St. Clement I, pope (unknown – 100 A.D.)
“Our door is faith; if it is strong enough, the whole house is safe.” + St. Ambrose, bishop (340-397 A.D.)
“Faith alone is truly the substance and foundation of all that exceeds knowledge and understanding.” + St. Maximus the Confessor, abbot (580-662 A.D.)
“Let no heretic deprive you of what has been given to you. Faith is rather like depositing in a bank the money entrusted to you, and God will surely demand an account of what you have deposited.” + St. Cyril of Jerusalem, bishop (315-387 A.D.)
“Christ protects his servants‟ faith and gives strength to believers in proportion to the trust that each man who receives that strength is willing to place in him.” + St. Cyprian, bishop and martyr (208-258 A.D.)
“No man has ever seen God or known him, but God has revealed himself to us through faith, by which alone it is possible to see him.” + From a letter to Diognetus
“I urge you to have faith in Christ; truth can never deceive.” + St. Gaudentius of Brescia, bishop (unknown – 410 A.D.)
“I shall remember how Saint Peter at a blast of wind began to sink because of his lack of faith, and I shall do as he did: call upon Christ and pray to him for help. And then I trust he shall place his holy hand on me and in the stormy seas hold me up from drowning.” + St. Thomas More, layman and martyr (1478-1535 A.D.)
“The extent of our faith is the measure of the wisdom which God has given us.” + St. Bonaventure, bishop (1221-1274 A.D.)
“It is by faith that God dwells in our hearts, in our memory, our intellect and penetrates even into our imagination.” + St. Bernard, abbot (1090-1153 A.D.)
“The Lord is always near to all who call upon his help with sincerity, true faith, sure hope, and perfect love.” + St. Ambrose, bishop (340-397 A.D.)
“By itself faith accomplishes nothing. For even the devils believe and shudder. No, faith must be joined to an active love of God which is expressed in good works.” + St. Maximus the Confessor, abbot (580-662 A.D.)
“We walk by faith, and not by sight.” + St. Augustine, bishop (354-430 A.D.)
“The disbelief of Thomas has done more for our faith than the faith of the other disciples. As he touches Christ and is won over to belief, every doubt is cast aside and our faith is strengthened.” + St. Gregory the Great, pope (540-604 A.D.)
“We should not hold our Savior in low esteem, for if we esteem him but little, we may hope to obtain but little from him. ” + From a homily written in the second century
“In his kindness, our Lord wished to strengthen your faith, for without it, Christ could not have performed many of his miracles.” + St. Jerome Emiliani, bishop (1481-1537 A.D.)
“In the preaching of the holy Gospel all should receive a strengthening of their faith.” + St. Leo the Great, pope (400-461 A.D.)
“You, the Lord is saying, must surrender everything but your faith: money, body, even life itself. For faith is the head and the root; keep that, and though you lose all else, you will get it back in abundance.” + St. John Chrysostom, bishop (347-407 A.D.)
“As we do battle and fight in the contest of faith, God, his angels and Christ himself watch us.” + St. Cyprian, bishop and martyr (208-258 A.D.)
“If you believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved and taken up to paradise by him, just as he brought the thief there. Do not doubt that this is possible.” + St. Cyril of Jerusalem, bishop (315-387 A.D.)
“A house so built by God, that is, by God’s guidance, will not collapse.” + St. Hilary, bishop (315-367 A.D.)
“The faith of those who live their faith is a serene faith. What you long for will be given you; what you love will be yours forever.” + St. Leo the Great, pope (400-461 A.D.)
“Just as there are two coinages, one of God and the other of the world, each with its own image, so unbelievers bear the image of this world, and those who have faith with love bear the image of God the Father through Jesus Christ.” + St. Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr (35-98 A.D.)
“We are not justified by our wisdom, intelligence, piety, or by any action of ours, however holy, but by faith, the one means by which God has justified men from the beginning.” + St. Clement I, pope (unknown – 100 A.D.)
“If you believe, you have the spirit of wisdom.” + St. Ambrose, bishop (340-397 A.D.)
“If passing from unbelief to faith means that we have passed from death to life, we should not be surprised to find that the world hates us.” + Origen, priest (185-251 A.D.)
“Banish the fear of death and think of the eternal life that follows it. That will show people that we really live our faith.” + St. Cyprian, bishop and martyr (208-258 A.D.)
“Certainly, in times of tranquility the cross should give you joy. But maintain the same faith in times of persecution. Otherwise you will be a friend of Jesus in times of peace and his enemy during war.” + St. Cyril of Jerusalem, bishop (315-387 A.D.)
“What concept could man have of God if he did not first fashion an image of him in his heart?” + St. Bernard, abbot (1090-1153 A.D.)
“Since our weak minds cannot comprehend the Father or the Son, we have been given the Holy Spirit as our intermediary and advocate, to shed light on that hard doctrine of our faith, the incarnation of God.” + St. Hilary, bishop (315-367 A.D.)
“In a marvelous way God’s mercy arranged that the disbelieving disciple Thomas, in touching the wounds of his master’s body, should heal our wounds of disbelief.” + St. Gregory the Great, pope (540-604 A.D.)
“The cruelty that did not spare Saint Agnes. youth shows all the more clearly the power of faith in finding one so young to bear it witness.” + St. Ambrose, bishop (340-397 A.D.)
“If the words of Elijah had power even to bring down fire from heaven, will not the words of Christ have power to change the natures of the elements?” + St. Ambrose, bishop (340-397 A.D.)
“Jesus saved the thief on the holy hill of Golgotha because of one hour’s faith; will he not save you too since you have believed?” + St. Cyril of Jerusalem, bishop (315-387 A.D.)
“If we are steadfast in our faith in Christ and in our love for him, we win the victory he has won, we receive what he has promised.” + St. Leo the Great, pope (400-461 A.D.)
“The true believer practices what he believes. But of those who pay only lip service to faith, Paul has this to say: They profess to know God, but they deny him in their works. Therefore James says: Faith without works is dead.” + St. Gregory the Great, pope (540-604 A.D.)
“In learning and professing the faith, you must accept and retain only the Church’s present tradition, confirmed as it is by the Scriptures.” + St. Cyril of Jerusalem, bishop (315-387 A.D.)
“We offer to the Lord a most acceptable gift, our incorrupt faith, the unshaken courage of our spirit and the glorious pride of our dedication.” + St. Cyprian, bishop and martyr (208-258 A.D.)
“Such is the power of great minds, such the light of truly believing souls, that Christians put unhesitating faith in what is not seen with the bodily eye; they fix their desires on what is beyond sight.” + St. Leo the Great, pope (400-461 A.D.)
“God is faithful.” + St. Augustine, bishop (354-430 A.D.)
