By DEXTER DUGGAN
PHOENIX — After traveling halfway around the world to become the new parochial vicar at St. Thomas the Apostle Church here, Fr. Joseph Rajan gave a talk at the Institute of Catholic Theology (ICT) about the original apostle who had preached in Rajan’s own home territory in Kerala in India — none other than St. Thomas the Apostle.
The ICT is an evangelization program based at this parish, which is the site of Rajan’s first service in the United States. He was ordained in India in 2004.
The church building here has two strong portrayals of the moment when St. Thomas confessed his belief in the Resurrection of Jesus by placing his hand into the wound in Jesus’ side. One of them is atop the baldacchino over the main altar, the other is in a large stained-glass window diagonally to the south of the main altar.
Rajan’s biographical information at the parish website says he attended Catholic schools throughout his education in India, including grammar school and St. Joseph Pontifical Institute in Aluva, Kerala, India, and was ordained a priest on December 29, 2004.
He graduated with baccalaureates in both philosophy and theology, the background information says, and he also holds a BA in philosophy and a diploma in civil engineering.
Before coming to the U.S., Rajan also served as a parochial vicar for three parishes, pastor of two parishes, was assistant director at Little Flower Engineering Institute, associate manager at Albertian Institute of Science and Technology, and associate manager at Albert’s Maritime Institute.
In his November 5 ICT talk here, Rajan noted St. Thomas’ reputation as being the doubter because he refused to believe the other apostles’ declaration that they had seen the risen Lord unless he could put his own hand into the wounds.
However, Rajan suggested that Jesus used Thomas’ skepticism in a positive way.
Although Thomas had been with Jesus tor three years to witness His teaching and actions, Rajan said, he “was a hard-core scientist who would not believe in anything true just because someone told him, and would trust them only after verification. Thus, he insisted that he touch the wound of the resurrected Jesus to confirm that it was Jesus Himself and not any apparition.
“Having confirmed, he became the most powerful apostle,” Rajan said. “No wonder Jesus wanted him to go to India into the midst of the rationalistic, atheistic Buddhists, Jains, and to other groups who were materialists. He was himself all that and he could bear witness in their midst. . . .
“After verifying the wounds were true, St. Thomas became convinced of the reality of the Resurrection and exclaimed, ‘My Lord and My God,’ thus making a public profession of faith in the Divinity of Jesus,” Rajan said.
Thomas is the patron saint of architects.
The priest displayed an image of a map showing Thomas’ travel roughly southward from the Holy Land, then turning east to cross the northern part of the Indian Ocean and arrive in the Indian state of Kerala in AD 52, where he founded seven churches.
“Tradition says that at the dispersal of the apostles after Pentecost, this saint was sent to evangelize to the Parthians, Medes, and Persians,” he said. “He ultimately reached India, carrying the faith to the Malabar coast, which still boasts a large native population calling themselves ‘Christians of St. Thomas.’ Or ‘St. Thomas Christians’.”
Thomas also preached to a Jewish community there who accepted Jesus as the Messiah and made their synagogue into a church, Rajan said.
Although Thomas was a Jew himself, Rajan said, “nothing is known about how he turned into an apostle of Christ. Thomas appears in Matthew (10:3), Luke (6), Mark (3:18), and Acts of the Apostles (1:13). However, he is most elaborately mentioned in the Gospel of John.
“The most significant feature of his character was his loyalty,” Rajan continued. “When Jesus said He wished to visit Lazarus, who had died in Judea, Thomas encouraged his fellow disciples to accompany Him, so that they could ‘die with Him’ (John 11:16).”
Not much is known about Thomas from the New Testament, Rajan said, although “St. Thomas was mentioned in several texts, including one document called The Passing of Mary, which claims then-apostle Thomas was the only one to witness the Assumption of Mary into Heaven, while the other apostles were transported to Jerusalem to witness her death.”
Whatever significance the date that St. Thomas the Apostle’s feast day has for others when it is celebrated on July 3, to the parishioners of this Phoenix church it means heat at the height of summer temperatures.
“According to Syrian Christian tradition, Thomas was killed with a spear at St. Thomas Mount in Chennai on 3 July in AD 72, and his body was interred in Mylapore,” Rajan told the ICT audience. “Following his death, some of his relics were taken to Edessa while the rest were kept in what is now known as India. They can still be found within the San Thome Basilica in Chennai, Mylapore, India.
“The relics taken to Edessa were moved in 1258 to Italy, where they can be found in the Cathedral of St. Thomas the Apostle in Ortona, Italy,” Rajan said while he displayed various slides of these points of interest.
“However, it is believed that St. Thomas’ skull rests in the Monastery of St. John the Theologian on the Greek Island Patmos,” he said. “The records of Barbosa from the early sixteenth century record that the tomb was then maintained by a Muslim who kept a lamp burning there.”
He said a location known as St. Thomas Mount in India “has been a revered site by Muslims and Christians since at least the sixteenth century.”
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