Transcript of Abbot Clement’s talk on Wednesday, 3 July 2002

        Edith Stein, in her biography, talks about the fact that when she was very young, she was very emotional and would throw herself on the floor, be rigid, and be very upset. She would be very upset, for instance, if she saw someone who was drunk. And she would cry out and all these things. Then one day, at the age of 6 or 7, she felt that her mother knew how to do what’s right for her and so she began to obey her. The result was that her life began to be clearer and her intellect awakened, she became clear and filled with light. Now that’s a dim image, that’s a transformation and a growth forward in life because we need a healthy mind to look at reality as it is. But that’s a dim image of what we heard proclaimed in today’s gospel.

        Thomas is the most Catholic apostle that I ever heard of. He’s anticipated the devotion to the wounds of Jesus before the church began to have those devotions. Why didn’t he say, "unless I see his chestnut hair and his blue eyes, (a Zeferelli Jesus) then I’ll believe." No he says, "unless I see the nails and touch his wounds and touch his side, then I’ll believe." He’s Catholic. He’s struggling with the question of the cross in life. And he’s quite focused on it’s mystery. How could this so good person allow himself to be crucified and what does it mean for my life? And so he blurts it out and then Jesus comes. And he doesn’t say just look, he says, "touch these wounds." Come and touch that love that pours itself out. Come and touch it, experience it. Then you will no longer have a problem with the cross in your life. Because you will discover your Lord and your God. Of the depth and the breath and height and the intensity of that experience the church tries to tell us by placing the epistle to the Ephians next to the gospel.

        What does the epistle to the Ephians say? You are no longer strangers and aliens. You are members of the household of God. You are the citizens of the heavenly kingdom. He’s not talking about intellectual insight, he’s talking about what Thomas experienced. He experienced the "good news." That we are children of God. That we are citizens of the household of the city of the kingdom. And not only that, we’re grounded on the rock, the cornerstone, Jesus and the apostles. Therefore, we have all that we need and more to fulfill our destiny. And even yet, one step further, the process we are being built, we are being made into a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. Do we really believe this stuff? To the degree that you meditate and reflect on the wounds and allow yourself to touch them, you will begin to believe. Because it means that you begin to see that God is the most active person in the universe. My Father works till now and I work. And what are they doing? They are making us a dwelling place of the Spirit.