3RD Sunday of Lent

While he was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, many began to believe in his name when they saw the signs he was doing." How we would love to see those signs! How easy it would be for us to believe if we too could witness Jesus healing the sick, feeding the multitudes, calming the storm. It's tempting to imagine that faith was a simple thing back in those days. We might be inclined to think that we don't have the same benefits as those first believers, and so faith is harder in our day and age. But is it, really?

In truth, we have an advantage that none of those people had: two thousand years of Church history! Two millennia of faithful, prayerful Christians believing in Jesus and spreading the Gospel; the collective witness of the saints, many of whom have also worked "signs" in Jesus' name; the effects of the Church on culture and the world through its schools, its hospitals, its spiritual movements, and religious institutions; the unbroken line of apostolic succession that traces back to the time of Christ. Just the fact alone that the Church is still alive and well in spite of all of its sinful members ought to be miracle enough for us.

But even with all of this testimony, it's important to remember that seeing signs and believing in Jesus is not the same thing. Even those who witnessed Jesus' miracles had to take the next step by choosing to accept him as their Lord. Ultimately, all of these convincing details are not the point. The point is to encounter Jesus on a personal level. The signs may open the door to bring us closer to him, but it's up to us to walk through that door. May we walk so as to come "to believe the Scripture."

#lent #reflections