The disciples of Jesus recounted what had taken place along the way,
and how they had come to recognize him in the breaking of bread.
While they were still speaking about this,
he stood in their midst and said to them,
“Peace be with you.”
But they were startled and terrified
and thought that they were seeing a ghost.
Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled?
And why do questions arise in your hearts?
Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.
Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones
as you can see I have.”
And as he said this,
he showed them his hands and his feet.
While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed,
he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?”
They gave him a piece of baked fish;
he took it and ate it in front of them.
He said to them,
“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you,
that everything written about me in the law of Moses
and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.”
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
And he said to them,
“Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer
and rise from the dead on the third day
and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins,
would be preached in his name
to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things.”
When Jesus asked His disciples this question, I suspect they were thinking something like this “Well you just appeared out of nowhere, and walked through a locked door. That is indeed be somewhat troubling.” I take it though, that this question is not just for those in that locked room, but Jesus asks us all that question, because He has us all in His mind, not only those with Him at that time, but all that came before and after them.
Why are we so troubled? I think it is because of lack of faith. Peter Kreeft suggests that it is because we expect things of God to be abstract and mystical, and not physical and tangible. But God is a good father and knows what we need. He gave His disciples concrete evidence. He showed His physical form to them in the upper room. He broke bread with them on the road to Emmaus. But today we moderns seem to think that time is past, and He is not present to us anymore. But He is, in fact present, every day, in the Eucharist at mass, and in all of the countless miracles (large and small) that He performs in our lives every day.
But despite all of the concrete evidence, many of our brothers and sisters fail to understand the miracles or believe the concrete realities of His presence in our daily lives. Again Peter Kreeft writes “the skeptic… argues, ‘Seeing is believing, and I don’t see, so I don’t believe,’ [to them] we reply, ‘You have it backward. Believing is seeing. If you believe, you will see. If you trust God, you will see for yourself what wonderful things he has in store for you.’” In this world we seem to need concrete examples, in order for us to feel like we are not being duped or tricked.
But God cannot be seen with our body’s eyes, He can only be viewed with the eyes of our heart, and through the love and trust of faith. The physical world clouds and disguises the things of the next world, and makes it hard for us to believe it is even there. So we cannot look to understand God with the mechanisms of science and physical experience, we must explore it with the mechanisms of the metaphysical, because the next world will be completely beyond our ability to understand… St. Paul wrote “What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him,” Something that incredible can only be seen through the eyes of faith.
If only we had that kind of faith. It is said that Thomas Aquinas was given a vision of heaven, as a reward for all of the incredible things that he has written of God. But after his vision, he told his scribes that everything he had written was rubbish (better translated “toilet paper”), compared to what he saw in heaven. I strive to understand God in this way. It is an endless preoccupation and it is my life’s work, and the reason I write these reflections. I know that there is so much more waiting for me, than the aches and pains, sadness and misery that seems to pervade this world.
But until that time comes, He watches over us, and cares for us and helps us whenever we need anything. If we could just live with that level of faith and trust in His never ending love, we could be perfectly happy, and fearless. But sadly we are stuck here in this world, and most of us don’t have faith strong enough to keep us from not worrying about food and shelter and safety. So we go to very long lengths, to make sure that we have the things we need to feel safe, and to provide those same things for our families.
It is a hard thing to completely trust, and be a beggar like St. Francis, but it is what we are all called to do, maybe not to the extent of St. Francis, but at some level. In all things we need to trust in the Lord more, and have faith more like a child. “Do not be afraid,” is not a simple throwaway line. It is, in fact the thing that Jesus said more than anything else in the bible. Because He knew it is the constant preoccupation of our hearts. Jesus does not want us to live in fear, He wants us to trust and pray instead, open the eyes of your heart, and look to Heaven and the hope of an eternity of joy and happiness with God in Heaven. So, do not be afraid.
