A well-known picture shows an innocent child looking in amazement at a pair of bleeding outstretched hands and saying, "Whatever happened to your hands?". In John's Gospel, Thomas, did not need to ask such a question. He knew, and the sight produced an avowal of belief that is by far the strongest made in the Gospel: "My Lord and my God". John's Gospel culminates in Thomas' affirmation of Jesus' divinity in the words of the Psalms.

Why, then, is Thomas often referred to popularly as "Doubting Thomas" when actually his statement of belief was absolutely definitive? Failing to believe without evidence and then being given the chance to proclaim Christ's divinity surely indicates the emphasis that should be laid on God's initiative and action in one's relationship with God.

It is of this that St Paul reminds us in his Letter to the Ephesians. Using the image of a building, he points out that while all members of the Church are equally important, - the bricks and mortar as it were, - yet the foundations, and the main cornerstone, Jesus Himself, are most necessary. God Himself in the Holy Spirit breathes life into this building. In other words, God's grace in reaching out to its members, as to Thomas, is what gives life to the Church. God it is who takes the initiative and inspires the action.