A Jesuit Catholic University
in Omaha, Nebraska, since 1878

Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14, or Revelation 12:7-12 Psalms 138:1-2, 2-3, 4-5 John 1:47-51

Weekly Guide for Daily Prayer The Daily Reflections

“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.’" -John 1:47-51

As we celebrate the Feast of St. Michael, St. Gabriel, and St. Raphael the archangels, we look to a powerful reading by John regarding faith. Like a coach who skillfully crafts the team he or she wants, or a college that discerningly picks the cream of the crop of high school students for admission, Jesus immediately recognizes Nathanael as “a true child of Israel.” And for good reason too, because while the disciples in other Gospels struggle with recognizing Jesus as the Son of Man despite his many signs, Nathanael believes that Jesus is the Son of God, the King of Israel, without hesitation.

Especially on a college campus, it becomes very easy to be a skeptical person. With a strong education comes the ability to analyze, compare, and criticize varying philosophies, political stances, economic models, and even religions. It is also easy to question faith and become skeptical as to whether the resurrection was a real event, and if good acts and blessings are the work of God, or simply the odds of chance. However, Nathanael serves as a role model towards keeping a strong sense of faith, and when it comes to the divinity of Jesus himself, Nathanael has no doubts.

He has a sense of conviction I try to work towards every day, fostering a stronger faith in light of skepticism by using college to synthesize theology, science, moral philosophy, and other subjects in order to see the good works of God in motion in the world. However, ultimately I must remind myself that faith at its core is a belief that must stand when scholarship reaches its limits, and the Christian faith is one to hold in order to work towards more loving and caring acts of goodness.