Do You Often Doubt What You See?

First Reading: Acts 3:13-15, 17-19

Peter said to the people:

“The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and denied in Pilate’s presence when he had decided to release him. You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses. Now I know, brothers, that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did; but God has thus brought to fulfilment what he had announced beforehand through the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer. Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away.”

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 4:2, 4, 7-8, 9

Second Reading: 1 John 2:1-5A

My children, I am writing this to you so that you may not commit sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one. He is expiation for our sins, and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world. The way we may be sure that we know him is to keep his commandments. Those who say, “I know him,” but do not keep his commandments are liars, and the truth is not in them. But whoever keeps his word, the love of God is truly perfected in him.

Gospel: Luke 24:35-48

The two disciples recounted what had taken place on the way, and how Jesus was made known to them  in the breaking of bread. While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts?

Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.” And as he said this,he showed them his hands and his feet. While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of baked fish;  he took it and ate it in front of them.

He said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And he said to them, “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”

Reflection
By Bernard Borja

An atheist was taking a walk through the woods, admiring all that evolution had created.

“What majestic trees! What powerful rivers! What beautiful animals!” he said to himself. As he was walking along the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. When he turned to see what the cause was, he saw a 7-foot grizzly charging right towards him. He ran as fast as he could. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the bear was closing, He ran even faster, crying in fear. He looked over his shoulder again, and the bear was even closer. His heart was pounding and he tried to run even faster. He tripped and fell on the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up, but saw the bear right on top of him, reaching for him with its left paw and raising its right paw to strike him.

At that moment, the atheist cried out “Oh my God!!!” Time stopped. The bear froze. The forest was silent. Even the river stopped moving.

As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky, “You deny my existence for all of these years, teach others I don’t exist, and even credit creation to a cosmic accident. Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer?”

The atheist looked directly into the light “It would be insincere of me to suddenly ask You to treat me as Christian now, but perhaps could you make the bear a Christian?”

“Very well,” said the voice. The light went out. The river ran again. And the sounds of the forest resumed.

And then the bear dropped its right paw, brought both paws together, bowed its head and spoke: “Lord, for what I am about to receive, I am truly thankful.”

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I came across that story online and it got me thinking, how often do we believe in something that is really good and beautiful? Or to what extent do we allow ourselves to believe?

I remember what one of my mentors said during one of his talks, “God has been giving us guidance already. He has been giving us directions already. But we’re not hearing it, we’re not even following it, because we lack trust.”

The disciples have been given signs already beginning from the Scriptures up to the revealing of the resurrected Christ. They also have the first-hand experience of the ministry of Jesus. There were also two disciples who had confirmed that Jesus was raised and spent time with them during the walk to Emmaus. But how come they still doubt The One who appeared to them as real?

The Gospel reminds us how much we have been given signs for us to believe. But like the atheist in the story, we block our hearts from believing what has been told to us beforehand. We’ve already been seeing signs through the majestic, powerful, and beautiful things around us. But sometimes, we choose to believe in something else rooting in a theory of “just a mere accident”.

But despite of our unbelieving, God is always there to pursue us to open our minds. We just need to let our hearts be open and allow Him to speak to us. In all the wonders that we see and experience, we are all witnesses to God’s love. And Jesus Christ reveals Himself to us so that we may share the same love to everyone.

Prayer

Dear Lord, thank You for opening our hearts and minds to bring us closer to You. We feel Your presence and Your loving embrace because of the wonderful things You created for us. Grant us the grace that we may bring the same love to those who are afraid to believe, so that we may share with Jesus Christ Your Son, the fulfilment of Your kingdom here on earth. Amen.