4th Week of Easter

It is said that seeing is believing.
However, this just doesn’t work for the Jews.
They see Jesus.  They hear him speak.  They witness his signs and miracles.
They see how people respond to him.  Even so, they do not believe.
They refuse to accept his is the Son of God.
They can accept his earthly presence.  He is a human being after all.
But they fail to accept that he is connected with heaven in any way.
The Jews fail to see what others are willing to see.

I’m reminded of a story that happened when astronauts first walked on the moon.
Pictures and video were shown to some people who concluded that it was all a hoax
and an act of government deception.
No matter what they saw, nothing was going to convince them that human beings walked on the moon.

That’s what’s happening here.  The evidence is in front of their eyes
but the Jews refuse to believe Jesus is who he says he is….who his followers say he is.
To believe would mean that everything they held dear in life was a sham.
They would rather continue believing a lie (their own righteousness) than believing in Jesus.

There are believers around them.  The Jews can see this.
People experience Jesus’ generosity, his love.  They are healed of sicknesses.
They hear Jesus speak.  And these people believe.
The Jews could not believe.
They had too many objections and these objections could not be overcome.
Whatever influenced the hearts and minds of believers in a positive way
did not influence the Jews.  They remained in their unbelief.

For us, what does belief in Jesus entail?
Belief requires that we hear the voice of Jesus.
Belief requires that we receive what he has to say, that we are receptive to his instruction.
Belief requires that we act upon what we receive.
This might entail love, forgiveness, repentance, mercy, service, generosity, sacrifice.
Belief requires that we obey his commands.
To believe in Jesus means that we put our confidence in him.  We trust him.
He is telling the truth.  He is reliable.  He is faithful to his word.
To believe in Jesus is to strive for goodness, love, justice and mercy according to his teaching
….to conduct ourselves as he has called us to do,
to behave according to what he revealed as God’s order of things.
To believe in Jesus is to embrace the conviction that the state of the immortality of our soul
will be determined by his judgment.
He will determine whether we enjoy eternal peace or eternal torment.
To believe in Jesus is to accept our relationship with him and to him
as being the greatest of goods….nothing is more important.
For us as Catholics, to believe in Jesus is to receive the Eucharist.

Today’s prayer: “O Lord, You have given us the gift of faith in Your Son Jesus Christ.  Continue to enlighten us about the truth of his presence in this world.  Amen!”