Do you believe in Jesus Christ? John’s Gospel states from the very outset that what marks Christians as children of God is that they believe in Jesus' name. John ends his gospel stating that his purpose for even writing his Gospel is that his readers would believe. No other gospel emphasizes belief like John's. The Greek verb used for belief, pisteuō is found 98 times in his gospel.
After Jesus’ first miracle, the wedding at Cana, John’s Gospel says his disciples began to believe in him.” When Jesus cured the royal official’s son, Scripture says, “he and his whole household came to believe.” And When Jesus gave sight to the blind man, his response was “I believe, Lord.”
Not had such a positive response to Jesus’ miracles and teachings. Many chose not to believe. Many found his teachings too hard and walked away. After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, from that day the high priest and the Sanhedrin planned to kill him.
We heard proclaimed today the often quoted John 3:16, “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” Belief leads in Jesus Christ leads to eternal life.
Faith however is not just holding a single idea “just in case”. You know, just in case there is a God, I’ll believe that Jesus was sort of important person. Christian faith is to orient our whole existence. The Bible says faith is an act of the “heart”, it’s supremely personal rather than being superficial and unenthusiastic.
Our “faith life” must not be separate from our “family life” or “work life”. Faith is meant to encompass the totality of our activities. If I go to work and set my faith aside, then faith is not genuine. If I go on my annual vacation, but also take a vacation from the commandments of God, then faith is not genuine. Faith is to encompass and guide everything.
Pope Francis wrote in his first encyclical on faith, “If man has lost the fundamental orientation which unifies his existence, he breaks down into the multiplicity of his desires.” In other words, without faith we have nothing to guide us accept our emotions. And that can lead to some pretty perverse actions! As it does for many!
Faith cannot be sustained unless we are in constant contact with the living God. Which is why we need daily prayer and meditation, regular study of the Christian faith, reflection on the lives of the saints who embodied faith so beautifully, especially the Blessed Virgin Mary, Blessed is she who believed!
I'll conclude with the prayer concluding Pope Francis encyclical on faith:
Mother, help our faith!
Open our ears to hear God’s word and to recognize his voice and call.
Awaken in us a desire to follow in his footsteps, to go forth from our own land and to receive his promise.
Help us to be touched by his love, that we may touch him in faith.
Help us to entrust ourselves fully to him and to believe in his love, especially at times of trial, beneath the shadow of the cross, when our faith is called to mature.
Sow in our faith the joy of the Risen One.
Remind us that those who believe are never alone.
Teach us to see all things with the eyes of Jesus, that he may be light for our path. And may this light of faith always increase in us, until the dawn of that undying day which is Christ himself, your Son, our Lord!
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