Although you have not seen him you love him; even though you do not see him now yet believe in him, you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy… (1 Peter 1:8, 2nd reading for this Sunday). Faith is our puzzle for today. Our Gospel is about the apostle Thomas, struggling to believe because he has not seen the risen Lord. When the Lord appears to him, he chides Thomas: have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed, Jesus says. Sometimes we mistakenly think faith was easy for people who saw Jesus. It wasn’t. Many who saw his signs and wonders turned away, or said he was possessed by the devil. We always are in the position of the dad in Mark 9:28 who asked for healing for his son, and said to Jesus: I do believe; help my unbelief. I think faith is kind of like love — another thing we cannot really see — but we believe in love because we accept the signs of love we have been offered. Through other people, through my faith tradition, I have been given enough signs to believe in God. I can open myself to these signs and embrace them, or I can reject them. When faith is wavering, and it will at times, it’s a good time to remember all those signs!
– Blog entry by Sister Mary Garascia