The chiaroscuro of of this Caravaggio highlights the movement of Thomas's movement from dark to light, the gaping wound of Christ's body heals the wounded belief of Thomas's heart.
Here is an act of communion with Christ's body, Thomas inserts his finger in order for to prepare him to insert his mind, his heart, his whole being into the Eucharist and the Church.
2 comments:
Great post, Father.
On verse in this passage (John 20:19) leaves me slightly uneasy.
"The door was closed... for fear of the Jews". Nevertheless, Jesus, the Risen Christ, came and stood among them. The phrase obviously has to be there to make the express point that the post- resurrection Jesus does not have a normal physical body but one that can pass through closed doors (a glorified body, as my Jesuit instructor explained long ago, bless him). On the other hand, the post-resurrection accounts tell of Jesus having a body that eat normal food, retaining the wounds of the crucifixion, again, as was pointed out by another Jesuit spiritual director.
Thus, the appearances of Jesus between the Resurrection and the Ascension are paradoxical and so a Mystery.
But what is about the Jews? All the disciples inside the room were Jews too. So which Jews is St John referring to, that the disciples were afraid of? Clearly, it is the religious authorities. Unfortunately, unless the matter is thought about, the opprobrium rubs off onto all Jews, which is understandable but absurd, untheological and ultimately leads to hatred.
The point needs to be made when this passage is read.
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