Thomas: who voiced what others dared not ask
"Unless I put my finger in the mark of the nails..." So said Thomas. I have always warmed to Thomas the apostle. I like the way he asked questions and wanted to discover things for himself rather than rely on 2nd hand evidence, even from trusted people in his own group. Any new movement or ancient institution needs people who have the courage to ask honest questions, even when that disturbs accepted truth. Sometimes such people voice the questions that others also have but dare not voice. In Malcolm Guite's sonnet St Thomas the Apostle he describes he describes Thomas as: "Courageous master of the awkward question, you spoke the words that others dare not say and cut through their evasion and abstraction." You can read the text or listen to Malcolm's reading of the whole sonnet here . Today's Gospel reading is John 20: 19 – 31 . It begins with the risen Jesus meeting his disciples in an upper room, breathing the Holy Spirit on them...