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Gospel Reflection for Monday, March 31, 2025
Believing Without Seeing
Believing without seeing. Believing without any evidence. Believing like the royal official and, like him, calmly and serenely taking the road back home, never ceasing to trust. And continuing to believe even when we discover that things haven’t turned out as we hoped, that the world remains full of injustices, wars, and oppression. Believing because at some moment in our lives, the light became so strong that it overcame the darkness, even if it was just for a moment and then, suddenly, night surrounded us again.
It’s hard to express what faith is. Many people say they have little faith. Others have despaired and settle for just keeping on walking. They walk in darkness, feeling insecure, but something deep inside tells them they can’t stop, they can’t sit down and refuse to move forward. Something deep inside tells them that this journey of life has meaning. Even if they see nothing because the tunnel is dark, and the light becomes a distant memory, unable to warm their hearts or lift their spirits.
There are people who say they don’t believe but spend their lives devoted to helping those around them, reaching out to the needy, and going out of their way for others. It’s curious that those who say they find no meaning in life end up living to give meaning to the lives of others, to lift up the fallen and heal the hurting.
In today’s Gospel story, the father eventually realizes that his son began to feel better precisely at the hour Jesus asked him to trust His word. The father trusted even though he saw nothing, even though all the evidence was against it. Believing is walking in that darkness. Believing is learning to walk in the darkness and keep trusting. Believing is enjoying the gifts and enduring the blows life gives us. Always giving thanks. Always trusting. Despite the darkness. Even if the son had not been healed.
May the Lord gift us all with this faith made of trust and the cement of endurance, sustained in loving solidarity and hope. This way, we will be better prepared to celebrate the Passion, the death of Jesus, anchored in the hope of the impossible: the resurrection.