Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead. – John 20:8-9
Our Lenten adventure has reached its end. We have reached Jesus’s empty tomb. We have encountered the truth of the Resurrection. Imagine you are with Mary Magdalen that Easter morning. As you follow her to the tomb where Jesus was laid, you see that it is open, the stone rolled to the side. She notices that Jesus is gone and runs with fear to tell Peter: “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him” (John 20:2).
The disciples did not understand why Jesus was gone. He had told them before that He would rise, but somehow they could not grasp it in order to believe before it happened (see Matthew 16:21). It can be difficult to believe in things that we have not seen. This is the meaning of faith: that we believe what we have not seen. St. Paul taught: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).
None of us were at the tomb that Easter morning. We have never talked with Jesus face-to-face after the Resurrection. We have never put our hands in His side like Thomas (see John 20:28). Instead, “we walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Believing is not always seeing. I have never seen the wind and yet I believe that it exists because I see its effects. I have never seen love, but I believe that it is real because I have felt it in my heart and seen its effects in others.
“Faith is an entirely free gift that God makes to man” (CCC 162). We can ask God to increase our faith: “I do believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). Faith is also a human act, a cooperation with God’s grace (CCC 154). We have faith for one simple and profound reason: to live and share the abundant life of Jesus now and forever. (see John 10:10).
Jesus, I believe in You even though I have not seen you face-to-face. Help me be a joyful, effective witness to my faith during this Easter season.
