Entrance of St Thomas the Apostle into India

Commemoration of the arrival of our Father in faith · Feast: 21 November

Entrance of St Thomas the Apostle into India
Konstantinos Tzanes, St Thomas the Apostle enthroned, icon, 17th century, Hellenic Institute of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Studies, Venice, Italy. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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Word for the day

“Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”” John 20:28

Life

The ancient and constant tradition of the St Thomas Christians holds that the apostle Thomas reached the coast of Malabar, traditionally at Kodungallur (Muziris) in AD 52, preached the Gospel and founded communities, remembered as the seven and a half churches. Today the Syro-Malabar Church remembers his entrance into India with gratitude.

Kerala had long trade links with the Roman world through Muziris, which makes such a journey historically possible, though the details come to us through tradition, songs such as the Thomma Parvam and the living memory of the community rather than written records of the first century.

Lessons

Faith that confesses

My Lord and my God: the faith Thomas brought is the faith we profess.

A Church with an apostle's roots

We are heirs of an apostolic Church; that is a gift and a responsibility.

Mission continues

The faith that came to India by sea now goes out from India to the world.

Stories

The landing at Kodungallur (tradition)

Tradition remembers that Thomas landed at Muziris in AD 52 and first preached among the Jewish community there.

Homily

1. The courage to go

Let us also go, that we may die with him (John 11:16): the same courage carried Thomas to India.

2. My Lord and my God

His great confession is the heart of the faith he planted among us.

3. Heirs and missionaries

We are called to pass on what we received.

Dear friends, today we give thanks for the day, remembered in our tradition, when the apostle Thomas set foot on our land. The man who once said, let us also go, that we may die with him (John 11:16), crossed the sea to bring Christ to a people he had never seen.

He brought us the faith he had confessed before the risen Lord: my Lord and my God (John 20:28). For nearly two thousand years the St Thomas Christians have kept this faith through many trials. We are not a young Church; we stand on an apostle's foundation.

But a gift received must be handed on. Thomas came to us; now our missionaries go out from Kerala to the whole world. Let us thank God for our heritage, live our faith with joy, and support the mission of the Church by our prayer and our sacrifice. Amen.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, you sent your apostle Thomas to our land to proclaim you as Lord and God. Keep us faithful to the faith he planted, and make us missionaries of your Gospel in our time. Amen.