Is 65:17-21 Ps 30:2 and 4, 5-6, 11-12a and 13b Jn 4:43-54

Weekly Guide for Daily Prayer The Daily Reflection for Today

“Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” John 4:48

I have a hard time believing what I cannot see with my own two eyes. I have a hard time believing things like the halogenation of an alkene in organic chemistry without the ability to see such small chemical interaction. I have a hard time taking the word of the professor and of the tests that “say” that is what is going on. I always want to be able to see things with my own eyes so I can confirm that the truth is being told to me. With my need to see things as they are you should not be surprised that I struggle with the idea of believing in God. We must take his existence on pure faith alone. There is no way to scientifically prove the existence of God so it takes a great amount of faith to believe that God really does exist and that everything about faith is not a fairy tale.

In John’s gospel Jesus tells the people that always need signs and miracles in order for them to believe. He continues by stating that the people should not have to see in order to believe. It took the healing of his son for the royal official and his family to believe in Jesus. It almost seems as though he was testing Jesus to see if the official had reason to believe. However, it took an act of faith for the official to go in front of Jesus and make the request to heal his son. He must have had some confidence in Jesus to take that step. The people at the time of Jesus could take the seeing is believing approach because Jesus was there right in front of them doing miracles so that many would come to believe in him and the power of God.

It is the strength of those who live without the living God in front of us that are faced with the tough challenge of belief. There are constant “miracles”, odd, unexplainable circumstances that happen even in the world today that we can either see as a fingerprint of God on the world or merely a coincidence. Also, I must strive to pray and contemplate the aspects of God that I cannot see and must take on faith alone. It is one thing to believe in Jesus and the apostles based on all of the historical accounts of their lives, but are another to believe wholeheartedly in all of the teachings and beliefs of the Church. We must believe so that we can see.