The Character of Thomas - Apostleship Maligned

But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. John 20:24

Much has been made out about the absence of Thomas from the first appearance of the risen Lord to the community of the Apostles. Those with an agenda to malign the apostle claim that because he was absent at this meeting, he was not "ordained" and hence the Church that he established does not have any
right to be independent etc. It is worthwhile to examine what actually happened in that first meeting of the risen Lord with the community of the Apostles and what conclusions we can make.

All the twelve were called by the Lord for a specific purpose, to go into the world to establish His Church. This call was initiated by the Lord, not by any quality of the disciples. The growing into this ministry was an ongoing process and was not confined to any one specific incident. Right from the time when Christ chose them, they were entrusted with this "office". Each day as they spent time with the Lord, they grew into an understanding of this responsibility. That Thomas was a chosen Apostle is not debated. Him being not
present in this first meeting does not lessen his call or authority in any way. His absence in the sacramental\spiritual level was amply made up by the rest. Else there would have been some mention about it in the Scriptures - none exist. Before and after this first Sunday, Thomas remained an Apostle wedded to his call. Tradition does not accord any secondary status to Thomas as compared to
the rest after this first Sunday. If any of the other apostles were "ordained", so was Thomas, no more, no less.

So what actually happened on that first Sunday? Did the apostles receive anything special that day that Thomas did not receive? Let us closely examine the Scriptural revelations one by one.

The Lord said "As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you". (V21). This statement, in fact, expresses the whole idea of an Apostle - to be sent out. Thomas was not excused from this call at all because he was absent. Holy tradition and the history of Indian Christianity is a witness to that.

Compare with "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
(Matthew 28:18,19,20)

Baptism in India by St. Thomas

Thomas was indeed present when Christ gave this Great Commission to the apostles(as seen in v 16). He, along with the rest were asked to
1) go, make disciples of all nations.
2)baptize them
3) teach them

Surely, we do not expect the Lord to send out Thomas without the necessary equipment and resources he would need. So it is clear that Thomas had whatever was needed (whatever resources - ordination, authority, power, charisma, gift) to accomplish these 3 tasks, and more so because Christ said "I will be with you till the end of age" - all this despite missing the first meeting that Sunday. The much talked about absence did not affect his call as an apostleship in any way.

Character of Thomas - Blessed

Source : ICON