He saw and believed
A few weeks ago, early in the morning, I sat alone in the parish church, unsure how to move forward in my ministry. I didn’t hear a voice or see a sign. But somehow, in the silence, I knew: Jesus Christ was there with me.
In this week’s Gospel John 20: 1-9 we are told that early in the morning, on the first day of the week, in that in-between hour when night is lifting and the world is still holding its breath, John and Peter ran to the tomb. They didn’t find the body of Jesus—but we are told ‘…he saw and believed.’
How did he believe? He hadn’t seen the risen Lord. Just emptiness. Just cloths folded neatly. Like me that early morning, I hadn’t seen Jesus, yet I believed that He was there with me.
I think of the many times in my own life when I had to believe without surety. I think of those first few weeks and months after experiencing our original Marriage Encounter weekend. There were more questions than answers, trying to balance work, a young family with 2 toddlers and doing ministry. But still, we said: ‘Let’s trust God.’ Looking back now, I can say that’s when our real journey of faith began.
More recently, as I stepped into the new parish, there were similar echoes. I walked into an unfamiliar space. I didn’t yet know the people. But I sensed the Lord saying, ‘I am calling you here.’ Like John, I just saw the empty tomb and the cloths and believed this was a resurrection story.
Maybe that is the Easter faith. It is not about celebrating what we know—it is about choosing to trust even when we don’t see the full picture. Can we look at the uncertainty—the yet unanswered prayers, the waiting, the transitions—and walk ahead in faith?
Pope Francis in his book ‘Let us Dream’ says ‘Often God writes unfinished stories and we are called to complete the story’. This Easter, let us ask for that kind of faith—the kind that doesn’t always need the whole picture, but find hope even in the incomplete stories of our lives.
Maybe this Easter you find yourself in an empty tomb with folded linen cloths. If so this week’s Gospel is calling you to ‘see and believe’.