Commontide
Liturgical Color: Red
The 3rd Sunday in Advent
O Lord Jesus Christ, you sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries may likewise make ready your way, by turning the hearts of the disobedient toward the wisdom of the just, that at your second coming to judge the world, we may be found a people acceptable in your sight; for with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Advent
Because you sent your beloved Son to redeem us from sin and death, and to make us heirs in him of everlasting life; that when he shall come again in power and great glory to judge the world, we may without shame or fear rejoice to behold his appearing.
Most liturgical texts are from the Book of Common Prayer (2019) of the Anglican Church in North America.
The New Coverdale Psalter, © 2019 by the Anglican Church in North America. Used by permission.
Apostle and Martyr
Red Letter Day
Thomas, called Didymus, "the Twin," was one of the twelve apostles. The Gospel of John preserves his three speeches: a blunt offer to die with Jesus, an honest question at the Last Supper, and, after his famous refusal to believe at secondhand, the confession "My Lord and my God." Ancient tradition carries him east, to Parthia and to India, where the Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala trace their church to his landing in AD 52 and his death by spear near Mylapore in AD 72. The historic Western calendar keeps his feast on December 21.
Thomas appears in the Synoptic apostolic lists without individual characterization, but John's Gospel presents him as a man of distinctive integrity: practical, loyal, courageous, and radically honest. When Jesus resolved to return to Judea—where enemies sought his life—to raise Lazarus, Thomas declared to the other disciples: 'Let us also go, that we may die with him' (John 11:16). This shows both unflinching courage and realistic pessimism—he expected death but would not abandon his Lord.
At the Last Supper, when Jesus spoke of going away, Thomas objected: 'Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?' (John 14:5). Jesus answered with one of Scripture's most resonant statements: 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life.' Thomas's honest question provided the occasion for this fundamental disclosure of Christ's nature.
The most celebrated scene occurs after the Resurrection. Absent during Jesus's first appearance to the disciples, Thomas refused to accept their testimony: 'Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will not believe' (John 20:25). A week later, the risen Jesus appeared again. Rather than rebuke his doubt, Jesus invited Thomas to touch his wounds, saying: 'Do not disbelieve, but believe' (John 20:27). Thomas's response—'My Lord and my God!' (John 20:28)—stands as the Gospel's fullest Christological confession. Jesus concluded with a benediction extending beyond Thomas to all believers: 'Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed' (John 20:29).
Traditionally, Thomas carried the Gospel to India after Pentecost and preached along the Malabar Coast, founding seven churches and performing miracles. He was martyred near Madras (Chennai), reportedly pierced with a lance while at prayer. The antiquity and independence of the Thomas Christian communities of Kerala—who trace their apostolic lineage directly to Thomas—provide external support for the core historical claim of Thomas's Indian mission, even though the detailed Acts of Thomas (3rd century) is heavily legendary.