"Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed." – John 20:29
Do you believe everything you read or hear? Social media today can be a landscape of half-truths or lies, made to look like solid truth that something happened. Even the so called "trusted media" can portray a slanted or biased view of events. We have become accustomed to the expression "Fake News". So what are we to believe?
It's human nature to doubt. We see this demonstrated in this weekend's Gospel of Saint John. We find Didymus, also known as Thomas, questioning his friends if they really saw Jesus. So the following week, Thomas sees Jesus with his own eyes, and touches His wounds. By doing this, he truly believes. But Jesus tells Thomas, and us, "blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."
Faith is a powerful thing, and so is mercy. To have faith, you must let go of what is logical and what you know to be true by your experiences and put your trust in someone or something that is beyond our ability to prove. As humans, we sometimes let people down. Friends and family put their trust in you. They have faith that you can do something, but often you fall short. You let them down or they let you down. Consequently, we have trouble having faith in others unless we really know them and trust them.
The same goes with Jesus. Do you really know Jesus and believe in Him? Do you really trust Him? Because of the great mercy of our Lord, He loves us despite of our doubt, our questioning, and our unbelief. We should take this as a life lesson to show mercy to others when they make mistakes or doubt our intentions or efforts. On this Divine Mercy Sunday, give thanks to God for His merciful love and patience with us, and ask Him to help us to be more forgiving and patient with others.
Reflection by:
Bishop Gregory Parkes
Did you know...
Most Reverend Gregory L. Parkes is the fifth Bishop of St. Petersburg. Prior to his appointment to the Diocese of St. Petersburg, Bishop Parkes served as the fifth Bishop of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee from 2012-2016. He was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Orlando on June 26, 1999. Before answering the call to the priesthood, Bishop Parkes worked for several years in Tampa's banking industry.
