Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe
The gospel readings at Mass during the Easter Octave give us the Resurrection appearances of Christ after Easter: to the two women, to Mary Magdalene, to the Twelve, to the two disciples on the Road to Emmaus, at the sea of Galilee. Each is given to prove that he is truly risen, truly alive — he talks with them, eats with them, allows them to touch him. On Easter Sunday we read from St Peter’s great sermon in Acts, that the Lord appeared to those “who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead”.
The Lord’s insistence that the Apostles recognised he was truly, bodily risen and alive was not only for their benefit, but for ours too. Our whole Christian faith centres on the resurrection of Christ. Had he not been raised from the dead, he would be no more than another great prophet or teacher. At worst, he would be a fraud. The resurrection is the guarantee that he is, indeed, God, and his words and actions are those of God himself. It is the guarantee that we can trust those words, and therefore trust that he will lead us to the Father and everlasting life. As St Paul says, “if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is also in vain.”
You and I are not able to eat and drink with Jesus as the Apostles did. We cannot put our fingers into the wounds made by the nails in his hands. We know that he rose from the dead because the Apostles knew. We believe because they believed. That is why it is the faith of the Apostles in the resurrection of the Lord that is the foundation of our Catholic faith: the whole deposit rests on the Apostolic witness of St Peter, St James, St John, and the others.
This Apostolic witness has continued down the centuries through the ministry of the successors of the Apostles, the Bishops of the Church, and especially in the ministry of the Pope. He, and they, are called to confirm their brethren in the faith, and to feed and care for the Lord’s flock. They continue to announce to us, as St Mary Magdalene announced to St Peter, that the Lord is truly risen.
We pray this week for our late Holy Father, Pope Francis, offering the sacrifice of the Mass for him so that he might be raised to new life in God’s kingdom and given the reward of his labours. But we also thank God for the Apostolic witness of His Holiness, who proclaimed the Lord’s resurrection to the end of his life. And we pray too for the Cardinals who will soon enter the conclave to elect a new Successor of St Peter, that the Holy Spirit will guide their deliberations, and give us a good and holy Pope to continue the proclamation of the joy of the Gospel.
The Apostles are blessed because they saw the Lord; we have not seen him, yet we believe.