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Gospel Reading for 03 July 2026 – John 20: 24-29
COINCIDENCES
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 Thomas said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks 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 said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “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.”
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Faith is often defined as believing in things unseen. Perhaps we can also say that faith is seeing with the eyes of the heart what the eyes of the body cannot see. If faith depended solely on human reason, we would spend all our time trying to explain everything logically and might end up doubting God’s presence and action in our lives. Faith, however, enables us to recognize God’s hand even when it is not immediately visible.
Take, for example, Thomas. His fellow disciples had already seen the risen Jesus and testified that he was alive, yet Thomas refused to believe unless he himself saw Jesus and touched the marks of the nails and the wound in his side. If everyone had demanded the same kind of proof before believing, the Good News could never have spread throughout the world.
There will be times when we encounter “doubting Thomases” in our own lives—people who persuade us that the blessings we receive do not really come from God but are merely COINCIDENCES. If we allow ourselves to be influenced by such thinking, it will become difficult to deepen our relationship with God. We may find ourselves constantly questioning whether what happened to us is truly God’s grace or simply chance.
Certainly, not everything that happens is a miracle, and there are natural explanations for many events. Yet faith enables us to recognize that God’s providence can work through both the ordinary and the extraordinary. A coincidence may explain how something happened, but faith asks a deeper question: Could God also have been working through it?
Let us reflect on these questions: What do we gain by doubting God’s love and his countless graces? On the other hand, how does our life change when we gratefully recognize that every good gift ultimately comes from God?
