In his letter to the Ephesians, St Paul reminds us today that we are part of God's household, part of a building with the Apostles and prophets for its founda- tion, and Christ Jesus Himself is its main cornerstone. Another image Paul uses is that we are citizens, like all the saints, in the Kingdom of God; we are no longer aliens or foreign visitors. We are included in the house- hold of God aligned to Jesus as the Head and, at the same time, we are also citizens of the Kingdom of God with Christ as the King.

Thomas is also included by Jesus in His risen appearances to all the Apostles, even though later by one week. Initially, Thomas was doubtful of the risen Christ based on the testimony of the other Apostles. Jesus challenged him by calling him to touch Him. Thomas probably did not even need to touch Jesus to believe that it was really Him. The very deep experience of encountering Jesus who called him by name was more than enough.

We are already included in the body of Christ even though we may not have seen Jesus. Yet we believe in Him. Our faith, a gift from God, includes us in the household and Kingdom of God.