I Believe

March 28, 2020

Saturday The Fourth Week of Lent

Jer 11:18-20

Psalm 7

John 7:40-53

In the Gospel today, the guards are sent by the Pharisees to get Jesus and bring him to them.  But, after hearing Jesus speak in the temple area, they returned to the Pharisees without Jesus.  The conversation went like this:

“The guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not bring him?” The guards answered, “Never before has anyone spoken like this, man.”The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived…”

Have you also been deceived?  That line caught my attention, and it brought me back to college.  I was majoring in Religious Studies at Iona College.  My teacher, one of the Irish Christian Brothers, whose name escapes me, asked us a similar question.  He said, “What if you were to find out all you believed in is a lie.”  He continued, “What would you change about how you live?”  My answer was, “Nothing!”  Faith is about goodness and love.  Faith is caring about one another and believing that God loves each of us personally without measure.  I have spent my life living in that love, and I would change nothing, living a life of faith has filled my life with blessings and the strength to overcome sorrows, what more could I ask.

This reading is essentially about doubt and faith and the precarious relationship between them.  Faith and Doubt go hand in hand.  It is not possible to have one without the other.  Faith requires doubt, or it is not faith.  Faith means the answer is not a fact, it is not clear.  Faith is a decision of the mind and the heart.  Faith requires sometimes walking in blindness and believing that no matter what, God is leading the way.

Doubt is the work of the Great Deceiver.  It is Satan whispering in our ear, “It is all a lie.”  Many would think that the tempting of Satan would chip away or weaken our faith.  It can, but it doesn’t have to.  Each time we hear his temptation to doubt, and we overcome it, our faith grows stronger.  We have won another battle against evil, and love (God) has gained ground, both in our own hearts and in our broken world.   

The bottom line — savor the gift of faith and when doubt whispers in your ear, place your hand in the outstretched hand of the Lord and say, “I believe.”