SEEING IS NOT BELIEVING

20150703 SEEING IS NOT BELIEVING

Readings at Mass

First reading

Ephesians 2:19-22 ©

You are no longer aliens or foreign visitors: you are citizens like all the saints, and part of God’s household. You are part of a building that has the apostles and prophets for its foundations, and Christ Jesus himself for its main cornerstone. As every structure is aligned on him, all grow into one holy temple in the Lord; and you too, in him, are being built into a house where God lives, in the Spirit.

Psalm

Psalm 116:1-2 ©

Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News.

or

Alleluia!

O praise the Lord, all you nations,

  acclaim him all you peoples!

Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News.

or

Alleluia!

Strong is his love for us;

  he is faithful for ever.

Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News.

or

Alleluia!

Gospel Acclamation

Jn20:29

Alleluia, alleluia!

Jesus said: ‘You believe because you can see me.

Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.’

Alleluia!

Gospel

John 20:24-29 ©

Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. When the disciples said, ‘We have seen the Lord’, he answered, ‘Unless I see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.’ Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them. ‘Peace be with you’ he said. Then he spoke to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side. Doubt no longer but believe.’ Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him:

‘You believe because you can see me.

Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.’

SEEING IS NOT BELIEVING

SCRIPTURE READINGS: EPH 2:19-22; JN 20:24-29

Contrary to the commonly accepted cliché that “Seeing is believing”, today’s scripture readings tell us otherwise: that “Seeing is NOT believing!”   Why is that so?

Firstly, to say that “seeing is believing”, is a contradiction in itself.  If you see something, it is a fact.  When something has been objectively proven by science, there is no room for belief or unbelief.  It is a matter of whether one agrees with the objective findings or not. We can dispute the fact, but if it were a fact, one must accept.  So if the color of my hair is brown, but because you are color blind and you see it as green, that does not make it green.  So for an objective reality, no belief is necessary.  It is fact.

Secondly, “seeing is not believing” because what we see might not be truly objective.  Take magic for example.  We know that magic has everything to do with illusions and tricks, rather than the supernatural.  We could be deceived by what we see.

For this reason, faith is required even when we see the object.  For example, many miracles of healing have happened in Lourdes, and even in our lives, yet not all believe that it is the work of God.  When baffled by such miraculous cures, science simply states that such a phenomenon cannot be explained at this point of time because of the lack of information.  So, whether we believe in a religious experience or not, depends on whether we choose to conclude that it comes from God.

Even St Thomas in today’s gospel required faith to encounter the Risen Lord.  Although he had originally demanded to touch Jesus as a condition for his belief, when he actually saw the Risen Lord, he immediately exclaimed and confessed, “My Lord and my God!”  The gospel never said that he touched Jesus. His response was an act of faith, not of seeing, but a ‘believing seeing’.   After all, what he saw could have been a ghost, or a Jesus resuscitated from the dead, not the Risen Lord.

What is said of St Thomas is also true of the other apostles and disciples as well.  Like the doubting Thomas, the apostles and disciples of Jesus were initially reluctant to believe the Good News that Jesus is risen, in spite of the testimonies of those who had seen Him.  And even when Jesus appeared to them, they thought He was a ghost, until Jesus assured them otherwise.  So they, too, had to make an act of faith.

So how did they believe?  Yes, they saw something, or someone.  The Risen Lord certainly gave them some signs that He was the same person as the Jesus of Nazareth. Upon seeing the signs, they made the judgment that “it is the Lord!”  Of course, the testimonies of the women, the other apostles or disciples who claimed to have seen Him would have bolstered their confidence that the encounter was real and not conjured.  So what we actually have are signs that lead to identification with what we see.  Signs are not proofs as in the world of science.  They are indications of the truth of the objective reality.  Signs imply that the judgment of faith is still needed, since it cannot be proven materially.  Signs therefore are important for faith, otherwise we would be accused of being credulous.  Although faith is beyond reason and cannot be proven, it is not irrational or totally subjective. Faith must not contradict reason and the latter supplies the preambles for a credible faith.

But then we might ask, “Why should the apostles’ testimony be believed?”  How can we be certain that their claim was not falsified or misguided in any way?  We know the truth of their claim by the testimony of their own lives.  Before they encountered the Risen Lord, they were cowards.  But after their encounter, their lives were radically transformed.  They not only boldly proclaimed the death and resurrection of the Lord, but they were even willing to die for their belief.  Besides their conviction of Jesus’ resurrection, they manifested the power of the Risen Lord in their ministry through the miracles worked in the name of the Lord Jesus.

What about us? Where does our faith come from?  Isn’t it also from the faith of other believers, especially our loved ones? But how do we know that what they say is true?  By virtue of the same signs, namely, their conversion of lives, their love, peace and joy, their testimonies of how God worked in their lives.  We know what they say is true, even if not scientifically demonstrated, because they are our friends and they would not deceive us. That is why faith is imparted, not taught.

But where did their faith come from?  It came through the Church, its teachings, sacraments and liturgy.  St Paul affirms that we, the Church, as the community of faith, “are part of a building that has the apostles and prophets for its foundations, and Christ Jesus himself for its main cornerstone.” The Church, guided by the magisterium, continues to mediate to us our faith in Christ.  She ensures orthodoxy of faith through right doctrines, worship and practices.

But where did the faith of the Church come from?  It came from the apostles.  This explains why the true Church of Christ must be apostolic both in terms of succession and in doctrines.  Bishops are the true successors of the apostles and together they, as a college under the leadership of the Pope, transmit the teachings of Christ and all the saving realities for our salvation.  By so doing, they make Christ present, especially in the celebration of the Eucharist, since the Church is the Sacrament of Christ.  This is what St Paul meant when he wrote that we are “part of a building that has the apostles and prophets for its foundations.”   It is this assurance that our faith comes from the apostles that we accept the teaching authority of the Church.

But where did the faith of the apostles come from?  It came from Christ Himself. St Peter and St Paul, whose feasts we celebrated recently, are acknowledged as the two pillars of the Church because of their personal faith in Jesus.  St Peter was the spokesman of the Church in professing Christ as the Son of the Living God whilst St Paul was given a special revelation from Christ on his way to Damascus.   One became the shepherd of the Church and the other the great apostle to the gentiles.

So we have reached full circle in the transmission of faith.  Faith comes from Christ through the apostles to the Church and the community of faith.  But we cannot remain contented with merely an inherited faith. Nay, we are adopted sons and daughters in Christ, thus it behooves us to make the faith of Peter and Paul and Thomas our own.  We cannot simply remain as secondary recipients of faith.  The purpose of their testimonies is to lead us to the threshold of faith, but we must take the leap of faith once we come to it.  Until we do so, this faith is not yet ours.  And till we interiorize the faith of the Church, we are not yet truly the superimposed stones on the foundation of the apostles and Christ our cornerstone.

Today, as we celebrate the feast of St Thomas, we must strengthen our belief by the faith testimonies of others, especially by developing a personal relationship with Christ through an encounter with the Risen Lord in prayer and in worship.  We must enter into the house of God ourselves.  We are not aliens or even visitors, but “citizens like all the saints, and part of God’s household.”  Let Christ be our cornerstone, for when “every structure is aligned on him, all grow into one holy temple in the Lord; and you too, in him, are being built into a house where God lives, in the Spirit.”

Written by The Most Rev William Goh

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

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