Active Contemplation

It's been much too long since I've visited, three weeks, but do know that my spiritual growth continues each day. Holy week was very powerful for me this year. It's been one year since I was baptized at the Easter Vigil and don't get me wrong, that was a very powerful event, but this year had an even greater impact on me. I understood the events in a much clearer sense, embraced each in a solemn, peaceful manner as I sat back and contemplated each for what it stood for.

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Thomas, 'the Outspoken Twin
Thomas is mentioned several times in John's gospel. Although he is best known as the "doubting Thomas," he also comes across as a person of courage who speaks his mind.

At one point some of the Jewish people in Jerusalem threatened to stone Jesus because he had said, "The father and I are one." Jesus left the city and went to a deserted place with the disciples. While there, he heard that his friend Lazarus had died. Jesus tells the disciples that he going back to Jerusalem to "awaken" Lazarus. They warn Jesus that a return there so quickly would be dangerous. Thomas says, "Let us go to die with him."
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Thomas apparently had a nickname - "Didymus" (the Greek word for twin). There is an interesting tradition that the disciples gave Thomas this nickname because, in appearance, he closely resembled Jesus. They would refer to him, not "Thomas" but as "The Twin."