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Greetings, SBT Readers:
300 calories.
As I think of the phone app that notifies me about the number of steps I have taken in a day and that helps me calculate my calorific input, I cannot comprehend what it must be like to exist on 300 calories.
300 calories. A protein bar? A slice of cheese? A smoothie? A handful of almonds? A bowl of rice?
300 calories might sustain me for an hour but not for a day -- and especially not for a succession of days in which water is just as limited. According to relief agencies, this is precisely the number of calories available to many of the people of Gaza. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), an innovative multi-partner initiative of 19 organizations, claims that "the entire population of Gaza is currently facing high levels of acute food insecurity – or IPC 3 (Crisis) and above. This includes half of the population (about 1.11 million) experiencing catastrophic food insecurity. This is the highest ever recorded number of people in IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe), both in terms of percent of the population and total number of people."
Since the IPC analysis was conducted prior to March 2024, the figures underestimate the current situation.
300 calories and seven martyred World Central Kitchen food aid workers.
As we continue to celebrate the Easter Season, may we keep in mind those living in the worst of circumstances, especially those who put their lives on the line to serve them.
Eastertide Blessings!
Elizabeth
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION
Link to Readings
Thomas, also 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 replied, "Unless I see the marks of the nails in his hands
and put my finger into the nail marks, and my hand into his side, I will not believe."
Now a week later his disciples were again inside the house
and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked,
Jesus 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 doubt, but believe."
Thomas answered, "My Lord and my God!"
Jesus said, "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are they who have not seen and yet believe."
Jn 20:19-31
To be a "Doubting Thomas" is to be a skeptic who relies on personal experience or direct proof before believing something. Though the expression is in everyday usage and doesn't depend upon knowing the Bible, it originates in John 20:24-29, when Thomas refused to believe the other disciples' insistence that they had seen the Lord.
But can we blame him-- and hasn't tradition treated him unfairly?
In fact, Thomas was the only disciple to venture outside the safety of the house where the other disciples were sheltering behind locked doors. While they huddled in fear, Thomas was out on the streets, perhaps searching for provisions or "fact-finding" to determine their next moves. Only by listening to the local gossip would he have been able to assess the dangers awaiting the fledgling community. It is also possible that he simply needed to be on his own to think and to grieve; perhaps, like the other disciples, he was still trying to process Mary Magdalene's announcement that she had seen the Lord.
In Luke's Gospel, for example, we learn that Mary Magdalene and a group of her companions announced Jesus' resurrection to the apostles, "but their story seemed like nonsense, and they did not believe them" (Lk 24:11); and in Mark's Gospel, Mary Magdalene met with the same response (Mk 16:11). Thomas, then, was no more of a doubter than the other disciples. Given the courage it must have taken to leave the house, perhaps a better nickname for him would be "Thomas the Intrepid."
In Thomas' defense, it also seems unfair that Jesus would appear in his absence-- and not only that but that Jesus would breathe his Spirit onto the group (Jn 20:22-23). In effect, Thomas missed that moment of Pentecost simply because he was not present. His companions had a double advantage: not only did they have a firsthand experience of encountering the Risen Christ, but they now had his Spirit to embolden them. For his part, Thomas was left with his old consciousness and ways of thinking. He had yet to be infused with new spiritual life.
Despite my defense of Thomas, however, he is useful as a "type" with whom we can identify -- one who, despite the testimony of others, needs to see and know for himself. Living in a world of disbelievers, many of us may find it hard to explain why we believe and precisely what we believe. This is especially true in a world that has hijacked the Bible for political ends and in which white nationalism is being marketed as "Christianity." If we cannot explain the why or the what at least to ourselves, we will be unable to respond when others ask us.
Unlike Thomas, we do not get to touch the wounds of the Risen Christ or see him standing before us. Rather, we are the blessed ones who "have not seen yet believe." For some, belief is something they inherited from their families and continue to pass down through the generations. For others, belief is based on the witness of the faith community, especially in the New Testament or in the biographies of saints. And for others, faith stems from the direct experience of the Divine Presence, whether in private or communal prayer, or whether in any time or place where the Holy One chooses to make his presence known. For each of us, the answer will be different, and, for each of us, the answer will change as we grow in spiritual maturity.
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