Faith Without Seeing

Second Sunday of Easter – Year B

Acts 4:32-36 / Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24 / 1 John 5:1-6 / John 20:19-31

Faith Without Seeing

Often enough we hear people saying they wish they were alive when Jesus walked the earth. If only I could have seen him heal with my own eyes and heard him teach with my own ears, I would really believe in him. When we say this we forget that the Pharisees and other leaders of the people saw him work wonders and still did not come to faith.

People who go on pilgrimage to the Holy Land walk in the footsteps of the historical Jesus. They go to the Jordan where he was baptized by John and see the site of the Sermon on the Mount. They see his birthplace and walk the Way of the Cross. But if they don't have faith before they go, they will not come back with it. If they don't have the gift of faith in Jesus the Risen Lord, no amount of scientific proof, be it an archaeological dig, a burial shroud or a book of the Bible, will convince them. Faith is not an intellectual exercise of proof and belief, but it is a matter of meaning, and is ultimately a matter of love and hope. That may be why moments of tragedy often put our faith to the test. That's also why it's often faith and nothing less that is able to help us through those moments.

We all go through crises of varying intensity: the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, a broken marriage. Perhaps we wonder how God could allow such things to happen to us if he really loves us. Perhaps Thomas wondered the same thing as he tried to make sense out of his own master's crucifixion, as he tried to find a reason to hope, a reason to love, a reason to go on living. 

Perhaps it wasn't seeing the wounds in the hands and feet of Christ that brought Thomas to a firmer faith. Maybe it was the look of forgiveness and unconditional acceptance on the face of our Lord that let Thomas know death hadn't swallowed up the one he loved. Rather the light of God had triumphed over the darkness of sin. The love of Christ had conquered the hate of his enemies. Thomas had his day of doubt. He also had a lifetime of faith.

No doubt, we too will have our times of wondering if it’s all true, but John's Gospel is written for us, so that we might believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world. That we might not flee from doubt and crises of meaning, but see in doubt and crises the first step of a deeper faith, a faith not simply in a man who taught well, or healed a few, but in a Lord who is the giver of life.

Blest indeed are they who have not seen, yet believe. Blest are we who believe.

·         What has gotten you through your moments of doubt? Is there a particular encounter with Christ in your life or in scripture that was your moment to believe without seeing?