Know God

Today’s Gospel Text:  Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe." 26 Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said, "Peace be with you." 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing." 28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe." John 20:24-29

Reflection: It’s a normal human psyche either to believe blindly, or to discerningly doubt or never to believe. 

You tell people that you have seen a tiger and some may actually believe you even if you have not seen one.  Make up a few interesting stories and they will have no doubts that you indeed are one of those brave one’s. 

For a few, there could be reasons to be skeptical about it and may pooh-pooh the whole story as something that is made up.

What if the narrator is really telling the truth and has had an encounter with a tiger? Then what? Unless he has some concrete evidences to prove his point, the listener could forfeit the benefit of learning from a beautiful incident, from a firsthand narrator.  Thanks to our limitations, wherein we cannot be present at the scene of the incident in retrospect nor easily comprehend or easily verify the truth of the incident.

Anyway, knowing about the tiger, or seeing a film personality or the president or prince are not important elements of life.  They will not affect our life.  Someone else’s encounter with these personalities and they benefitting from it may make an interesting story which could lead us into a dream world. Some could then be waiting for their prince charming!

But there is an encounter which can be a reality and which is necessary for us and for the world to believe and that encounter is that of the apostles and specifically that of Thomas the apostle.  It is an encounter that can really transform our whole life unto eternity.

It is an encounter which anyone can have and all can benefit from it.  This encounter may not be of the same kind as that of Thomas but it could vary from people to people.

In this encounter, you have to give up on your reasoning’s or rather, more appropriately, acknowledge the limitations of your reasoning’s  and give God a chance, that one chance to prove himself to you. He will do it, because Jesus is God with us.

Prayer:  Lord, help me know the limitations of my mortal mind and seek you and your wisdom in all things.  Speak to my heart and reveal to me my limitations, that I may know for sure that you exist and reign over all the earth.   St. Thomas, Apostle; Pray for us.

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

Believe

Scripture/Bible: For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. 18 He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God. John 3:16-21

Reflection:  Believing seems to be the magic formulae or it seems to do the job of saving.  It also seems such a trivial thing and can easily come under the lens of critical scrutiny.

How can a mere action of belief save the world from eternal damnation? If Jesus is saying it then what is it that he is communicating when he says that the only way for anyone wanting to be saved is to believe in him and him and them whom he sends in his name, with power and authority?

With this question in mind, I will seek to answer it from various angles and because our reflection is meant to be short I shall seek to answer it with some short answers and queries:

There have been many leaders both religious and secular in history that have made great promises, which of them have been successful for long with their ideologies?

Who among them have given such sound, simple and elaborate teachings on being saved, hell and eternal life and the problems of the world?

Who among them can claim to be the Savior and yet have performed the saving action by being the lamb of sacrifice, the most innocent, one who died one of the most miserable deaths in human history? He died in order to take away the sin (that human situation that separates us from knowing the truth of God and in defense of which he had to die) of the World?

Who among them have satisfied that need in man to seek a sign, in order that they may not have difficulty in believing in him? He did it with supernatural signs and continued with it through his holy servants and still continues his work to all who approach him or his holy servants with firm belief and sincerity of heart.

Which followers of any system or leaders can tell anyone with confidence that their God loves them no matter how sinful they maybe, can forgive their sins and that they will be able to experience him and his forgiveness even right now if they come to him with sincerity of heart and mind?

What is more, they can even claim that proof of God’s love by directing them to look at the Sacrifice of the cross. The cross of Jesus and the humiliations he endured for our sakes, a historical incident recorded by even historians, is the proof of his love for humanity sealed by his most precious blood.

Prayer: A sincere prayer is always from the heart: Make yours right now after reflecting on the above.

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us