There was strong evidence against a defendant in a murder trial, but there was no corpse. In closing the defence resorted to a trick: "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, within one minute, the person presumed dead in this case will walk into this courtroom."
The jurors all looked as a minute passed. Nothing happened. Then the lawyer said, "I made up the previous statement. But you all looked. There is reasonable doubt."
The jury retired to deliberate, returning minutes later with a guilty verdict. "But how?" inquired the lawyer. "I saw all of you stare at the door."
The jury foreman replied, "Oh, we looked, but your client didn't."
Sometimes our Christian witness may appear as transparent as that to on-lookers. Our children and our youth, in particular, look to us for signs of faith; that we really believe! They need to see us still looking, gazing through our darkness.
In the last chapter of Matthew's gospel we hear that the disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but some of them doubted.
Isn't it astounding that the very witnesses to the resurrection events should still be struggling with doubt? Yet it is no different than our daily efforts to believe, to trust and keep faith.
In a homily "Witness to what we see" Father Brendan McGuire addresses our struggle with doubt. "It is not that God isn't here, but that I cannot see where God is right now," McGuire says. "We need to be able to say that I am doubting because I cannot see where God is operating.
"We have all had some stuff happen to us where we just don't see where God is and in the midst of all that pain and darkness, we still have to choose to believe even when we cannot see.
"Like the apostles, we doubt, but that is okay. We still choose to believe even though we doubt. That is what our young adults need to hear," McGuire says.
It is that struggle of ours that brings us back to the Eucharistic table every week. It is there that we pick up the strength to continue our journey. This is how we present an honest face to others who, like ourselves, are trying to figure it out.Living a faith-filled life is hard work! No one, neither saint nor sinner, is immune from the struggle. We may not have all the answers, but we must keep on looking. Only then can we project hope and light to others.
