April 15, 2007
Catholic This and That by Wayne Talbot
Acts 5:12-16; Revelation 1:9-13, 17-19; John 20:19-31

Thomas’ response to Jesus this weekend is a result of his seeing Jesus. Can we not empathize with the guy? We are definitely a culture and people who base much of our knowledge on our senses. We know things because we can experience them. It is extremely difficult for us to really understand and believe things unless we have seen it for ourselves. Our faith, as Christians, is based on things we haven’t seen. We believe in a God we do not see and believe in an event that occurred many centuries ago. It’s like love. We can’t see it or hear it but we know it exists through the actions of others. I still have a hard time believing some things. The media’s way of telling the news, our political leaders, and some people who have lied to me are some factors in creating an atmosphere of distrust.

Poor Thomas has been given quite a bad rap over the years by such phrases as “Doubting Thomas.” What about the rest of the disciples? Do you think they really comprehended the mystery of Jesus even after he rose? There are examples in the gospels where it reflects a group of people who still were uncertain about Jesus until the Pentecost event. In Luke’s volume of Acts, we see the group sitting in a room with the doors shut because they still fear the leaders. They had witnessed the resurrection and ascension and still were not totally assured of what was happening. Faith can certainly be fickle. Sometimes it can easier to proclaim a belief when things are going right. When our life becomes difficult or shaky then it’s harder to see the God of mercy in that situation. When those times come it’s good for us to have models to use as inspirations.

One model I like to use is the group of Amish that experienced a tragedy in their community this past year with the shootings. They still proclaimed the God of reconciliation even though their children had undergone that violence. For me, it took a leap of faith to express their firm understanding that God is with them. They held no contempt for the man who did the shooting, but they expressed their belief in the resurrection. In other words, they left it to God to do the judging.

The letter to the Hebrews defines faith as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Heb. 11:1) As Christians we are assured of God’s victory over death in Jesus’ resurrection. Our life should be shaped by that assurance and we are a people who hope in that event. Our convictions and lifestyle is lived as the Master. Jesus’ example is enough for us to live as a people of hope. We make a personal free assent in God’s grace to us and then shape our lives under that conviction. Our hope is one that looks to the future while living in the present reality. We believe in Jesus who has lived, died, rose, and will come again. It is a stumbling block to those who declare themselves to be logical. How can we say God became man only to die on a cross? What does it mean to rise from the dead? No one has come back to tell us that heaven exists so how do we prove it?

We could go into a discussion of how St. Thomas Aquinas proved the existence of God, but even he thought that was all straw when understanding the mystery of God. In some areas our faith makes sense and in others it makes you scratch your head awhile. Faith is a communal relationship with God and is personal. Just like a friendship, we have to get to know our God by looking at Scripture and prayer. Faith also seeks understanding. If we connect with someone we want to know more about them. Our faith seeks to understand what the mystery of God means in our life. Therefore, we can say our faith is a journey of discovery about ourselves and our relationship with the Creator. Faith is a total free gift from God. We choose to respond to that gift. When we receive something from another person we choose to use it or not. We can also choose to acknowledge that gift or not. In John, Jesus tells people about some difficult teachings and asks his disciples, “Do you also want to leave?” Peter answers, “Master, to whom shall we go?” (John 6:67-68). Faith believes with a conviction in a message. Jesus told us, “If we had the faith the size of a mustard seed then we can move mountains.” The point that Jesus makes is we are packed full of potential. If we only would listen to the truth that God reveals to us through the world around us just think of the possibilities. Jesus tells Pilate that His mission to testify to the truth while Pilate asks, “What is truth?” If we are not paying attention then how are we to believe? How many times can we say to ourselves, “If only I had been …”? Our faith, once nurtured like a seed, will grow and we will see and understand more about God. It takes practice like any sport. When we practice we are trying to be better at whatever it is. That way we can have better technique and not have to think about it every time a situation arises. When the basketball comes to us, if we have practiced, we will act accordingly and with conviction. When God’s presence is right there in front of us, with a little practice of faith, we will begin to see and act with conviction about our faith.

Easter calls us to look at our faith and really ask ourselves, “Do we believe?” Do we really have faith in the resurrection? Has it affected our lives at all? Do we want to have a closer relationship with the God who is unseen?

The dictionary definition of faith is, “the theological virtue defined as secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God's will.” For a Christian, this definition is not just words on a page it is a way of life. Faith is acceptance of what we cannot see but feel deep within our hearts. Faith is a belief that one-day we will stand before our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The Theological Virtue For Christians, believing is not seeing. Our life is built on the knowledge that God came to earth, died on a cross, rose again on the third day, and then ascended back into heaven. Why do we believe, because the Bible tells us so. We were not there when Jesus was crucified, yet we believe. We were not there when Jesus rose again, yet we believe.

Too many people want physical proof. Even Thomas, one of Jesus’ twelve disciples, said he would not believe unless he saw Jesus. What was Jesus’ answer to him when he saw Jesus? “Because you have seen me you have believed, blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” (John 20:29). This is the theological virtue known as faith, believing what we did not see because we know it in our hearts to be true.

Secure Belief in God As Christians, we are secure in the knowledge that there is a God and that He rewards those that diligently seek Him. Faith for a Christian is much more than just a belief; it is security. Christians are secure in the knowledge that when all things come to pass they will see their Savior Jesus Christ.

Faith is a belief that what is said in the Bible is true based on the eyewitness accounts and the peace that comes when we turn our lives over to God. Faith is also the security of knowing that we are firmly in God’s hands and no matter what happens nothing will shake us from them. Faith is our secure belief in God and our secure belief of God and our secure belief that all things happen through God.

Trusting Acceptance of God’s Will As Christians, we do not only have a secure belief in God, we also have an acceptance that what God tells us to do is for our benefit. A part of the definition of faith is accepting God’s will over our own will. This means that we understand that what God is asking us to do will always work out for the good of those who love and listen to Him.

Jesus said to us to have faith like a little child. A child will accept what is asked of them and then go and do it. As Christians we do not question what God wants us to do. We just go ahead and do it because we have faith that what we are being asked to do will help further the Kingdom of God here on earth.

Faith Is A Verb In a way, faith is a verb because it means we must act on what we believe. Faith, as we have seen, is the theological virtue of being secure in our belief that God is real and that His Son died on the cross for our sins. It is taking that in a trusting acceptance of what God wants us to do and then going out and doing what we are told.

Some time ago someone likened faith to the wind: we cannot see the wind, we cannot hear the wind unless it blows against something, we can only feel the wind when it touches our skin or rustles our hair. Faith is like that wind. We cannot see what we believe in, we cannot hear what we believe in unless we open our eyes to the truth, but we can sure feel that our faith is justified by the joy we feel in our hearts. Remember, in the end, we all put our faith in something, so let it be the truth.

(No article until May 6.)

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