Have you passed the Thomas Test of Christianity?

They told him about the first visit.  About appearing.  About the fish they gave him to eat.  About him speaking to them, wishing them peace.  It was not enough for Thomas.  He disqualified their test.  He proposed his own norms, a more realistic experiment.  "Let him show me his hands.  Let him show me his side, let him show me his wounds.  If he has the wounds, I will believe, but if there are no wounds, no scars, then forget about him, forget about the fish. A week later, he is there again.  The others look at Thomas.  "Please, sir, may I see you hands?  Please sir, may I see you feet?  Please sir, may I see your side?  He saw Jesus' hands.  He saw his feet. He saw the wounds, the scars - he believed - leaving us the test - the Thomas test.  It is the test by which you measure one's Christianity.  What is remarkable about Jesus after the resurrection is that he still bears the scars - still bears the wounds that testify to his love for the disciples and the world.  Even the glory of the resurrection does not wipe away the effects of the living and the dying.  The wounds become the testament of Jesus' love for us- proof in the rising that he is the love that he said he is.  Somehow, we who are disciples must expect to have the same wounds, can expect to see the same scars on our bodies and in our lives. You say you are a Christian.  I ask you: Please, sir, may I see your hands? Please, madam, may I see your feet?  May I see your side?  If you have the wounds because of your interest and thirst for justice, for honesty, integrity and everything he lived and died for, I will believe.  That is the Thomas test. That is the test by which the Christian will be known. 3 short stories about the Thomas Test... A friend of mine was talking the other day about how difficult her work was. She works in the health care field, and a group of them were together trying to iron out some of the problems with the clinics in their area.  The had even brought in a facilitator to help with the issues.  She finished the two hour meeting dog tired, worn out and spent, just in the listening to the differing sides.  Just in making sure that people felt heard and understood.  She bore the wounds of Jesus in her feet - trying to walk in other's shoes. His name was Mr. Sommers.  He was the maintenance man at the seminary high school.  You'd see him in the gym and around the lockers and the hallways and the kitchen with his buckets and mops and rags.  Polishing statues of the saints.  Cleaning up the lunch that someone couldn't keep down.  Sweeping the bits of trash and paper and pen caps that were the legacy of the students at the high school.  Always with a smile, and a kind word.  Always with a story and a word of encouragement.  Loving people with simple hands that were marked by the same wounds of Jesus - hands that gave themselves in the working and cleaning. He bore the scars of Christ in his hands. And the heart wound.  Perhaps the most telling.  You'll know it's there when you toss and turn at night wondering how to invite people who live together to learn to love each other.  You sense it when you read the story of the violence in Israel and your heart breaks for the sorrow, and your hands write letters to urge our country to DO SOMETHING.  You'll know that wound is there when you go to your room and look around at all the things there, and realize you are wealthy beyond most people's dreams - and suddenly, like the early church, you know you have to sell what you have and give to the poor.  Or, when you stay in a conversation with some students who are asking about the recent scandals in the church, when it is the last thing you want to think about, much less try to explain.  Or when you offer, as Jesus did, mercy to disciples who desperately needed it - by forgiving what someone did to you with out having to make them suffer, without a word of reproach or condemnation - only offering the divine mercy we know this Sunday - then you bear the wound of Christ in your side... You say you are a Christian - I say: Show me your hands.  Show me your feet. Show me the scars that make you like unto Jesus.  Then you'll have passed the Thomas Test.  Then you will be a Christian...