Deacon Tom Writes,
“Nonsense”
Easter Sunday, The
Resurrection of the Lord , The Mass of Easter Day, Year C
Do you believe?
For many people the story of that first Easter morning is sheer nonsense. Even the Apostles didn’t believe the woman who said she saw Jesus.
The passage of time hasn’t made believing any easier. Today’s age of cynicism and the challenges of living in a materialistic society are giant obstacles to having faith in anything today, let alone believing someone rose from the dead.
Let’s face it—we all have a little bit of “doubting Thomas” in us—the Thomas who wouldn’t believe it was Jesus until he put his hands into the wounds where the nails had been.
Thomas was lucky; he was able to see with his own eyes. We can’t. We fall into that “blessed” category Jesus mentioned when he said, “Blessed are they who have not seen and have believed.”
What’s your faith level?
Many people today have abandoned their faith completely. Others—"casual worshipers”—have faith when it’s convenient. To have real faith requires long-term commitment. As Roman Catholics, we celebrate the true essence of our faith today when we say, “Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again.”
This belief, and our faith in it, is a gift that lies outside the scope of the rational imagination. Without faith, we cannot say this statement.
Too often people challenge faith as irrational. “That’s not true.” “Where’s the science?” “Prove it.”
I might not be able to snap my fingers and produce choirs of angels, but I can look back at scientists, inventors, mathematicians, and other world changers and see how their faith brought us game-changing advancements, and then ask myself, “If these ‘implausible’ things turned out to be real, then “Why not God?”
These people had ideas that seemed insane to others but turned out to be true. They believed...they had faith in themselves and their ideas while others failed to do so. Here are a few:
- Fr. Gregoire Mendel—a monk who crossbred pea plants. He’s considered the father of modern genetics.
- Thomas Edison’s lightbulb now lights the world.
- Sir Isaac Newton’s study of optics and gravity. His four laws are the foundation of physics today.
- Leonardo Da Vinci drew a scuba suit and airplane years before either was invented.
- Nicolaus Copernicus argued that the Earth revolved around the sun instead of the opposite—getting him into big trouble with the Pope at the time.
The list is too long to continue. There’s Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, the invention of antibiotics, the internet, and let’s not forget Elon “I’m going to shoot my car into space” Musk.
The world is now better because these advanced thinkers had faith in their ideas, often at great personal risk to themselves and/or their reputations.
They did the advanced math and science to bring their discoveries to light, but some would argue the hardest part was having faith in the foundation of their ideas when it meant standing up to peers, the community, and even the Pope himself.
We’re lucky today--our journey to deeper faith can be a gradual one. It’s a lifelong journey where we grow a little at a time, at a snail’s crawl, perhaps; yet, we mature in our faith at a pace we can sustain.
That doesn’t mean it’s easy. There are times when we, like Thomas, are called to make a stand—to believe or not believe. If that seems challenging, take some inspiration from the great scientists and thinkers. To them, the line between faith and science was simply the determination to keep on the path and put in the hard work.
Our Lenten journey together has built up to this—our knowledge that the Resurrection of Jesus is real, and that we, who believe in Jesus, and have faith in this miracle, will also rise from the dead. It seems too good to be true.
The task we now face is for us to continue to move forward in the afterglow of this Easter Mystery by letting Jesus remain a part our lives in our prayerful spirits, generous hearts, and charitable words and deeds. The more we practice these behaviors daily, the more our faith develops. Our skepticism and disbelief peels away, and Jesus becomes even more real to us and perhaps even to others.
When Jesus is a part of our daily lives, when our relationship with him is a real as it is with a best friend, when we know that He lives, that’s when we experience today’s remarkable story for real.
That’s when faith becomes tangible. Just as the great scientists and philosophers knew their ideas were real, our faith gives us joy knowing with absolute certainty that Jesus is resurrected. He is “not to be found among the dead.”
And, although it sounds like nonsense, for those who believe, death will not have the last word, for we were all created to live in the kingdom where Jesus, resurrected from the dead, will reign forever.
Happy Easter!
Deacon Tom
Recommended Reading:
"Life of the Beloved" by Henri Nouwen. Henri Nouwen was a spiritual thinker and writer who wrote about the life of Jesus and the love of God in ways that have inspired countless people to trust God more fully.
Recommended Podcast:
Fr. Mike Schmitz: Bible in a Year Podcast. Join in any time of year to begin to discover the spiritual treasures contained in Sacred Scripture. “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ” in the words of St. Jerome.
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