Faith— 08/19/2021

“Where To Go?”

By Father Frank Hernandez

We all know that faith is difficult to have. Believing in something we cannot see, touch, hear and smell. Our humanity and human nature tend to get in the way of our faith and lead us in and away from the relationships with others and the Lord. In chapter 6 of the gospel of John there is a moment in Jesus’ conversation about the Bread of Life that is too much for the people to take and understand. That we have to receive Jesus in His body and His blood to have eternal life. They were focused on the physical aspect of Jesus and not the spiritual. Within this dialogue in the gospel, Jesus asks His disciples, “Do you also want to leave? (John 6:67)” A moment of faith and trust in Jesus, but we hear the response from them. Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. (Jn 6:68)”

Jesus does have the words of eternal life. He was born into the world and took on our flesh to give us in a real way eternal life, so that we can share in the glory of God our Father again. But we do not accept them sometimes on this journey of faith. Because of the free will given to us by the Lord and sin entering into the world, it causes us not to follow the Lord fully as we should. We are skeptical as human beings towards one another, there is a lack of trust in our lives and in the world. We also have that same skepticism with the Lord. Do I really believe in Him? Does He hear my prayers? Is He really real? Do I need to have faith in something I cannot see? Doubt enters into our hearts just like the men in the gospel who do not understand the meaning of the Bread of Life.

Doubt is not a bad thing because it causes us to ask questions and be curious. And as a person of faith asking questions is good because we are able to grow spiritually and humanely. Sometimes it is hard to find an answer or understand that answer and sometimes it may not be the answer that we want, but we have tools to help us understand if we are open to using them. Once we stop asking questions, that is when we stop having faith in one another and the Lord.

Simon Peter and the disciples understood that Jesus was sharing a special message of faith and they trusted in Him. They failed like we fail in our humanity, but we know through our baptism and profession of faith that Jesus HAS the words of eternal life. How can we trust more in Him in our daily lives and not have that doubt that takes us away from our faith? Faith means that we are in communication with another person and trust that they will help us physically and spiritually.

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