Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. This first line of Sunday’s second reading from Hebrews (11:1) is profound. It is counterintuitive — we operate ordinarily on proof, things we can see, figure out, measure. “Seeing is believing,” we say, like Thomas who wanted to see and touch and feel the risen Jesus. And yet, when we reflect on our lives, we notice those areas where we do in fact operate on “things not seen” with our eyes, deciding and acting at times when there is no sure proof. We accept a job, maybe our first, in hope in a future not yet seen. We fall in love and commit, unable really to explain it all to anyone except ourselves. We move through our lives as believers in God in a world where belief is increasingly scarce. Although we have some rational reasons for believing, there also are reasons of the heart, moments of presence and revelation that are very personal to us and not “provable” or persuasive to others. From Augustine (d. 430) on, religious thinkers tell us we all are searchers, restless and questioning, looking for ultimate truth and light, and for union with the source of it all. One person finds the reasons of the heart, the evidence of things not seen, and another does not. And so we understand that faith is gift and grace. Today review the reasons of your heart, and give thanks for the gift of faith.
— Blog entry by Sister Mary Garascia