The Gospel reading recalls the scene after Jesus' resurrection when Jesus appeared to his disciples for the second time. Thomas was not with them the first time and when, later on, they told Thomas they had seen the Lord, he absolutely refused to believe them. He said that unless he saw with his own eyes the mark of the nails in Jesus' hands and was able to put his hands into the wound in Jesus' side, he would not believe. Now Jesus appears again and calls Thomas' bluff. "Put your fingers here and see my hands, bring your hand and put it in my side. Do not be unbelieving but believe." Thomas is clearly overwhelmed and can only burst out, "My Lord and my God!" It is clearly a statement of deep faith. He is the only person in the Gospel to address Jesus directly as 'God'. And it seems to have been made without his actually touching the body of his Risen Lord. There are two things we can note: first, Thomas in fact spoke beyond what he could actually see. He saw the Risen Jesus but he addressed him as God. That was a statement of faith. Secondly, the rest of the statement is addressed to us. "Blessed are those who have not seen and believe!" None of us has ever seen the Risen Jesus but we firmly believe that he did rise from the dead and is in glory with the Father. It is on the basis of that act of faith that our Christian life is founded.