Weekly Readings

Editor’s Note: Fr. Peter shares insights from a variety of voices on the Sunday readings.

The Importance of Trust

We can readily understand Thomas’ insistence upon seeing things with his own eyes. Would you believe it if someone told you that a friend whose funeral you had attended was now walking through walls?

At some time or other, all of us have been tricked into believing something we later found out was untrue and remember how foolish we felt. Haven’t our parents told us not to believe everything we hear? Haven’t our teachers taught us to do our own research? Doubt serves a valuable purpose, and we would be naïve to disregard it.

At the same time, we know that doubt can become a way of life, overstepping its usefulness. During the COVID pandemic, for example, some refused to believe even the most knowledgeable medical voices in the nation. Like Thomas, they insisted that unless they’d “done their own research,” they wouldn’t believe. Such a stance ignores that unless you are a scientist working in a medical lab, even “your own research” will be based on an act of belief that what you are reading of others’ research is correct. Doubt is good, but only in combination with a healthy dose of humility. In the end, the world turns on an axis of trust.

At the close of today’s gospel, Jesus names as “blessed” those able to discern what is true and believe not only because of what they have seen with their own eyes but also because of what they have heard through their ears from sources worthy of their trust.

~ Ann M. Garrido

Reflect

When has doubt served a purpose, and when has it gotten in my way?

Authors

MIGUEL DULICK: Michael Dulick earned post-graduate degrees in English, Spanish, and Philosophy, as well as a Master of Divinity. During his studies, he discovered Honduras, where he has lived since 2003 as “Hermano Miguel,” to live and pray with the poor in the village of Las Vegas. His donation-supported work is to keep families together rather than risking their lives to migrate to the United States. In 2007, Miguel adopted Anselmo, a 13-year-old orphan, so he could sign the forms that allowed Anselmo to receive life-saving open-heart surgery. And now he is Abuelo Miguel with a granddaughter, three-year-old Alicia!

ANN M. GARRIDO: Ann Garrido is the oldest of eight siblings in a large Catholic family from St. Louis, Missouri.  Her childhood dream of sharing the faith as a teacher and preacher has taken her to all 50 states and 20 countries. Ann is Associate Professor of Homiletics at Aquinas Institute of Theology and a longtime formation leader in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd movement. She currently lives in Georgia with Mike, her husband of more than thirty years. For more on Ann and her writing, see anngarrido.com.

 
FR. BYRON MILLER, CSsR: Fr. Byron Miller, CSsR, was director of the National Shrine of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos in New Orleans from 2000 to 2015, before serving as president and publisher of Liguori Publications until 2023. In 2021, he authored Daybreaks: Daily Reflections for Lent and Easter for pilgrims on the perennial Lenten journey to Easter.

 
FR. THOMAS M. SANTA, CSsR: Fr. Thomas M. Santa, CSsR, a native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, was professed as a Redemptorist in 1973 and ordained a priest in June of 1978. He is a graduate of Holy Redeemer College (Waterford, Wisconsin) and the State University of New York (Mount Saint Alphonsus). His work has included teaching theology, directing retreats, Scrupulous Anonymous ministry, and he is the author of numerous books and articles. Fr. Santa is currently serving his second assignment as the President/Publisher of Liguori Publications.