Is "SEEING IS BELIEVING" TRUE?

IS “SEEING IS BELIEVING” TRUE?

Eileen Renders

Before the resurrection of Jesus, it was Judas who pointed Jesus out to the soldiers so that they could take Him away and decide whether or not He must be punished for what they believed were crimes. Peter was called out in the crowd as a close friend of Jesus, and three times Peter denied knowing Jesus at all. After the Resurrection of Jesus, when He appeared to the Apostles in the upper room, it was another Apostle, Thomas, who wanted to see the wound on Jesus’s side and touch it before he would agree to believe that it was Jesus who stood before them. These were Jesus’s closest friends, and yet their trust and belief in Jesus were less than admirable. How, then, might we overcome the weakness of trust and belief in Christ? We too are human beings, born with sin, imperfect, and lacking the wisdom and trust to stand beside Christ in loyalty and in trust?

Did Jesus not select the twelve Apostles to follow Him and to evangelize? If it be true “Many are called, but few are chosen”, why were the Apostles chosen? Why was their trust not strong? Trust, it has been said, is the opposite of fear. Why are so many of us not stronger in our faith?  Also, we might ask ourselves, “How can we increase our faith and trust in Christ?”

Without believing and trusting in Christ without seeing Him, we have no faith. Faith IS “Believing without seeing.”

Why is it that many are called, but few are chosen? Much like Blessed Carlo Acutis, who is on his way to becoming canonized, these saints sincerely love God so much that He is the sole focus of their lives. They prayed all day, served God, and had compassion for others. Lukewarm Catholics believe that going to Mass each Sunday fulfills their duty as Catholics. Do we not all have questions that go unanswered regarding our faith as Catholics? Examples might be: How can there be three persons in One God, or how could God always be, always was, and always will be? How can God be in many places at one time? And much more.

Why did God choose some to witness apparitions and not others, especially when we were all born sinners?

Perhaps because of their sincere sorrow for having sinned, their ability to serve God, and their constant focus and prayers. God might especially choose these people to receive the divine grace of an apparition, as God knows they will work hard to become an Evangelizer to help Jesus bring home the sheep.