NOT SEEING IS BELEVING

On December 27 the Church celebrates the feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist. The two readings at mass make for a good meditation on the gift of Faith. 

First, there are the opening verses of the First letter of John:

What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life —for the life was made visible; we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible to us— what we have seen and heard we proclaim now to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; for our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing this so that our joy may be complete. (1 Jn 1-4)

The words in bold print seem to indicate that John was handing on to us things which he had actually experienced. He had seen, heard, and even touched with his hands. That doesn't sound like the faith that you and I are called to. 

But then there’s the gospel passage. As you remember, on Easter morning Peter and John run to the tomb to see for themselves what Mary Magdalene had reported. John gets there first and peers into the empty tomb, but waits for Peter to catch up and enter first.

When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed.

In this passage John is no longer dealing with the Jesus who walked the roads of Galilee preaching and healing, the one whom John saw and heard and touched. Now John is encountering the resurrected Christ and sees only the empty tomb and yet believes! This the kind of faith that you and I experience.

John's feast comes only two days after Christmas. After weeks of listening to the Old Testament prophets foretelling the coming of the great King, the Messiah who will deliver us form sin and suffering, what do we get on Christmas morning? Just a newborn, helpless infant. Yet we keep returning with great joy and devotion to the manger. We take for granted  the wonderful gift of faith that allows us to see in that babe the long-awaited Savior.

On this feast each year I remember a certain woman I met in a pizza parlor some years ago. I was sitting at the counter. When thus woman comes and sits on the stool to my left, the waitress, who knows both of us, says to the new customer, "He's a priest."  Almost immediately this woman says to me, in a sad tone of voice, "How I envy you! I wish I could believe the way you do, but I just don't have your faith. I wish I did!" As I remember it, we had  a pleasant conversation for some time sitting there at the counter.

She gave me a great gift that evening, one which I hope I'll always remember: Gratitude to God for the gift of faith. During this season when we are thanking God for the gift of His Divine Son in the stable at Bethlehem, I always think of that lady who keeps reminding me of what a special, incredible gift I have in the gift of Faith.