Dost Thou Believe?

Preparatory Prayer:

"Come and hear, all ye that fear the Lord, and I will tell you what great things He hath done for my soul." Psalm 65.

Setting:

The Pharisees have crowded around Our Lord in the temple. They are engaging in argument with Him, challenging His claim to be the Son of God. Our Lord in the course of the discussion refers to Himself as the "light of the world," as "the beginning who also speak with you," as "the Son of Man," as One taught of the Father and speaking as divinely instructed, as One Who is sent by the Father and Whom the Father never leaves alone. All these references more than insinuate that Jesus Christ is the longpromised Messias. He longs for the moment when the light of faith will shine in their minds and they recognize that, in sober fact, God has visited His people. The Pharisees remained hard of heart, refusing even the evidence of miracles which no one but God could perform. But it is good to know, too, that "there were many who believed in Him," and good to recall that I am among the many.

Fruit:

Abiding gratitude for my Catholic Faith and grace to live in the spirit of the virtue of faith.

Jesus longed, above all else, that men should believe in Him. Evidence for this statement meets us on nearly every page of the gospel. We can cite only a few examples and search out for others. That the search is well worth while should become clearer as we go through this particular period of prayer prepared for us today.

After Our Lord had opened the eyes of the man born blind, He met him and asked: "Dost thou believe in the Son of God?" The man replied that if he knew Who the Son of God was he certainly would believe in Him. Jesus revealed Himself and instantly the man fell and adored Him, saying simply and sincerely: "I believe, Lord."

To Martha He spoke of Himself as the resurrection and the life, through Whom life would come to mankind. Then He added immediately: "Believest thou this?" "She saith to Him: Yea, Lord, I have believed that Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God, Who art come into this world." Peter on another occasion was to use words almost identical with these. "Thou art Christ," he declared, "the Son of the living God." And for this splendid confession of faith he was praised by the divine Master.

Two blind men followed Him one day, imploring Him to give them sight. "Do you believe," He asked, "that I can do this unto you?" They assured Him they did, whereupon He opened their eyes, saying: "According to your faith be it done unto you." The father of the boy possessed of an evil spirit was told that all things are possible to those that believe, and the poor distracted man cried out: "I do believe, Lord; help Thou my unbelief." Jesus, we remember, could not do any miracles in His own country "because of their unbelief," and "He wondered because of their unbelief."

There were times when people were willing and even eager to crown Him as a temporal king, when they hailed Him as a prophet mighty in word and work, when they spread garments for Him to ride upon and waved palm branches and shouted their hosannas. But He knew only too well that they had not penetrated to the heart of His message. Even His own disciples "did not believe in Him." He is Godthat is His astounding claim. He proves it by referring them to the prophecies which described the Messias, and by showing them how these prophecies are fulfilled in Himself. He proves it to a point that we think should almost compel them to believe, by working miracles that nothing can explain except the intervention of divine power. And, to be carefully noted, these miracles were invoked by Him as proof that His claims were true.

We are living in an age that in large measure ignores God and the supernatural, that denies the claims of Jesus Christ, that is fiercely opposed to the Christian Faith taught by Him. That is why it is well for me, as I begin my prayer, to recall how insistently the divine Master keeps referring to this virtue, demanding from His followers an entire acceptance, on His word, of what they do not understand. Such faith is a test that Catholics are all the more glad to submit to just because so many refuse to believe today. The issue between Catholicism and paganism, ancient or modern, turns on the truth or falseness of the claim of Christ to be God.

Lord, I believe; help my unbelief. Lord, I kneel here to thank You for my Catholic Faith. When all around me is confusion and doubt, I rest in the calm assurance that that Faith is all it claims to be. I know and believe, not merely because of sentiment, not merely because mine is a very beautiful Faith. I believe because of Your word as God's own Son. I believe because I am well aware that whatever Your Church teaches me and commands me to believe rests on sound argument that cannot fail to appeal powerfully to the intellect of every reasonable person.