I'll See It When I Believe It

From now to the end of the Easter Season, most of the Gospel passage that we will proclaim during our Eucharist will be from the Gospel of St. John. So we need to place ourselves in the framework of his purpose by remembering some of his final words: “These (things) are written that you may [come to] believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).

I am sure that you have all heard the expression, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”  Today’s readings ask to ponder a slightly different twist on that expression: “I’ll see it when I believe it.”

Isaiah prophecies the creation of a new heaven and a new earth. His prophecy is met with a lack of faith. They might as well have said, “We will believe you when we see this new creation.”  

A royal official asks Jesus to come and cure his son. Jesus first says to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” The man asks again, and Jesus sends him home telling him that his son will live. The man believed what Jesus said and left.  He believed and then he saw and his whole household placed their faith in Jesus.

Faith is a prerequisite for Jesus. How often have we heard him say, “Your faith has saved you” to someone he has healed or cured. Even though the official’s faith may have been a small seed of faith, it was enough to bring new life to his son.

St. John wrote in chapter one: “All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:3-5). If we wish to see the light and live within the new heaven and new earth, we must first believe that Jesus is the incarnate God.

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator