You became a believer because you saw me.
Blest are they who have not seen and have believed.

On this day of renewal of the Resurrection of Christ, we recall the doubt of Thomas, the apostle, and the reaction of the risen Christ to his doubt. The story tells us that Jesus simply presented Himself to Thomas and offered to have Thomas place his hand in his side and in the wounds in His hands. Thomas’ response to the Lord’s action is one of the most profound acts of   belief. Thomas simply says, My Lord and my God. Jesus responds to Thomas’ act of belief by saying: Blest are they who have not seen and have believed. This is truly one of the most profound statements that we find in the Gospels. Why? Because it really directly encourages us to be people of faith even though we haven’t seen the risen Christ and to rely on the witness of others who have gone before us.

Thinking about this caused me to ask myself, and hopefully it will cause you to ask yourself: Why do I believe in what the Church says happened? Why do I think that God actually became a human being in order to reveal to me and all mankind how to live this present life?

I believe this because I think it makes a lot of sense and helps me to understand the real meaning and purpose of life! It helps me answer these questions: Why am I here on this earth? Why is my life the way that it is? Why does life present the challenges that I must deal with?

The teachings of the Church about God and Jesus provide, I believe, a great deal of hope. This teaching is based on our sacred story which, I think, truly provides a reasonable explanation of life. I must admit that I cannot accept the idea that life and creation are only an accident. I also cannot accept the idea that life has no real meaning or purpose. This vision of life robs me of hope and doesn’t give me any incentive to endure the challenges of life. Why go through all the struggles of life if life has no purpose?

While I have not seen the risen Christ, I believe there is life after this life because of the witnesses who have gone before me. I cannot believe that so many people in history have been duped and fooled into thinking our sacred story true. This is one of the reasons why I embrace our sacred story.

I would exhort all of my readers to think about why they believe what our sacred story tells us. While there is nothing wrong about doubting, the greater joy comes from believing that our God loves us.