Easter Sunday: Solemnity of the Resurrection (“A”)
Q. 629: There are many things we have to believe based on others’ testimony! Mary Our Queen Parish, Omaha
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April 24, 2011
A. 629: Elsewhere in the synoptic gospels (i.e., Luke 18:8b), there is a question that Jesus poses: “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” The implications of that question, and the consequences of the answer we give by our actions and beliefs, are absolutely enormous!
In today’s gospel (John 20:1-9) three of the people closest to Jesus are confronted with this exact, faith-demanding situation. Jesus is gone from the tomb! Where is he? Will they remember and believe what he said about his resurrection on the third day? We are told that only one of the disciples (presumably John) actually believed. Fortunately for the other two (Peter and Mary of Magdala), Jesus soon afterwards graced them with his physical, Risen Presence, and then they too believed.
The inspired scriptures tell us that eventually Jesus appeared to hundreds of his disciples, and they became eyewitnesses to his Risen Presence. We are blessed with the story of St. Thomas, who needed his own visual proof before he would believe. God granted his desire: Thomas saw Jesus; he saw and felt the wounds; he believed!
We have been provided with enough eyewitness evidence to give total credibility to the fact of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. God always keeps his promises; he is faithful to us. Now each one of us is being put to the test. Is our own faith capable of accepting these multi eye-witnessed events? Do we recognize that we can only do this with the very gift of faith that has been infused into our soul? When Jesus returns again, will he find faith on earth?
KNOW YOUR CATECHISM! Christ never has, and never will, force himself upon us. He has revealed his divine glory through his miraculous birth, through a super-abundance of miracles, and now through his resurrection. The empty tomb is not a proof; but it is an essential sign for all, and leads to the discovery of the resurrection (CCC 640). Simply put, faith is our response to God (CCC 27). It is also an obligation, because ignorance of God is the explanation of all moral deviations (CCC 2087). As St. Paul teaches us and the Corinthians so eloquently and truthfully, we walk and live by faith and not by sight. Accordingly, we must nurture our faith through study and prayer, so that we can give full and free assent to the whole truth that God has revealed (CCC 1814-16).
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