Easter 2 (John 20:19-31) Blessed are those who have not seen yet believe.

The greatest obstacle to faith is not doubt. The greatest obstacle to faith is belief. Doubt is simply one step on the journey to faith. Belief can be the detour on that journey that leads to pride and despair.

Moses and the prophets comment on this strange phenomenon. They observe that human beings have a tendency to form beliefs based in fear, self-will and pride.

Thomas believed that dead was dead. The dead do not rise. This is not an unreasonable belief. It is grounded in millennia of human experience and observation. It also ignores the clear and explicit revelation of God to Moses and the Prophets that death is not the final word for humanity.

In the books of Job, Ezekiel and Maccabees God promises that He will overcome death. The divine promise to humanity is resurrection. Resurrection is a new body, a perfect body, on a renewed Earth.

Through pride humanity chose to separate from God. In Genesis we read that the choice to separate came from the desire to be just like God. Sadly, when human beings look a God we see power and knowledge. These are just two of the many attributes of God. The reality of God’s nature is love.

Separation precedes sin. Sin is one consequence of separation. Separation from God initiates a process in the individual soul and in the common life of our species. The end result of that process is death. What keeps humanity on the path towards death is pride.

Separation from God proceeds from pride (hubris). Thomas not only believed dead was dead he announced his refusal to accept any eye witness testimony to the contrary. Pride forms the soul to assert the individual will to power that makes individual demands.

Thomas demanded proof. He would not accept evidence that he himself had not personally experienced and verified. He demanded that he should examine and touch the nail prints and scars from the crucifixion. He feared the other apostles had been deceived. He would not change his inherited beliefs without proof to his satisfaction and standards.

Jesus gave him that proof. As an apostle, Thomas needed to move beyond belief into faith. As an ambassador for Christ, Thomas and the others would face opposition, persecution and execution. Thomas would take the Good News of the resurrection of Jesus to India. There, people who rejected this Good News would kill Thomas.

Jesus gave Thomas that extra level of proof that Thomas demanded. Jesus also comments: Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen yet believe.

The call to salvation is the call to reunification. The call to reunification is the call to faith. The call to faith is the invitation to enter into a personal relationship with God in Jesus Christ.

It is the personal relationship that infuses a new life into our souls. It is the personal relationship that produces the new way of living. The operating principle is love. Love invites a choice. Love never demands submission to Law or belief. Love invites a choice to enter into a relationship.

It is through our relationship with Christ that we begin to transform sin back into its original virtue. It is through our relationship with Christ that we begin to transform belief into faith.

The process starts at a moment in time. It continues forever. It is a process of yielding fear to Jesus so that he may transform fear into faith by love.

It is a process of yielding our pride to Jesus so that he may transform pride into humility through love.

It is a process of surrendering our self-will (the will to power) to Jesus in the prayer Jesus most frequently prayed: Thy will be done.

The application of faith comes from worship, the sacraments, prayer, Bible study and memorization, service to others.

As with virtually all of the disciples, Thomas was stuck in belief. He believed that dead was dead. He believed salvation was submission to the Law. He believed in the categories of the righteous and unrighteous, of rewards and punishments. Jesus helped him overcome these beliefs. And, Jesus said there is a better way. There is a blessed way.

The better way and the blessed way is the way that is open to us. It is the way of faith. It is the way of a personal relationship with God in Jesus Christ.