Indore: City set to celebrate ‘Indian Christian Day’ today

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The Christian community of Indore announced that it would celebrate ‘Indian Christian Day’ on July 3 to celebrate the 1,950th death anniversary of Apostle St Thomas. All the Christians from the city will visit the church and perform their regular prayers and will gather in the evening at the church to celebrate the Indian Christian Day. An event was organised at the St Raphael’s School auditorium which represented the community celebrating and embracing their culture and worshiping St Thomas.

Saint Thomas, also known as Didymus (the twin), was a simple and hardworking fisherman from Galilee. Jesus called him to be his disciple and selected him to be one of the twelve apostles. Thomas’s love and respect for his Lord was intense. Thomas boldly told his companions, “Let us also go and die with them.”

Saint Thomas, according to the orders of Lord Jesus, travelled to the ends of the earth carrying the light of his gospel and, especially in South India, ignited the flame which has been burning continuously for two thousand years; and developing day by day, it is spreading its divine light to many people. Saint Thomas travelled the longest distance among all the other apostles and has the distinction of proclaiming the gospel by reaching the frontiers of the countries known at that time.

The mortal remains of St Thomas were buried in St Thomas’s Basilica, Chennai, where the St Thomas Church is named after him. Later, his revered remains were taken to the city of Edessa in Mesopotamia and transferred to Italy in the 13th Century. The Feast of Saint Thomas is celebrated on July 3.

Doubting Thomas

Saint Thomas became famous for his role in publicly attesting to the truth of his Lord’s resurrection. When the Lord appeared to the apostles on the eve of the resurrection, Thomas was not with them. Later, upon his return, when the other apostles told him that they had seen the Lord, Thomas did not believe them and insisted on seeing Him himself. That’s why, he was called Doubting Thomas. But the Lord Jesus knew the deep love of Thomas’s heart and his strong desire to see the Lord Himself. Thus, just as a loving father happily fulfils the wishes of his beloved son, so also Jesus fulfilled the wish of Thomas. Eight days later, when Thomas was also present, the Lord appeared to the apostles a second time and, fulfilling their demand, showed them the signs of his hands and armpits and asked him to place his fingers on them. At this, Thomas vehemently declared his strong belief in the divinity of Jesus, saying, “My Lord, my God”, which is the most beautiful confession of faith in the church.

Published on: Saturday, July 02, 2022, 09:24 PM IST