Growth In Faith

Growth in faith in God should be the goal of a Catholic’s life. As we age, our encounter with the risen Lord should deepen and continue to deepen until the day our Lord calls us home. We see that with the disciples. These men spent three years with the Lord in a way that none of us will ever experience on this earth. Yet as our Lord went to His passion, their faith was tested, and for all but Saint John, it failed. Consider that thought as we analyze this Gospel.

Gospel - John 16:29-33

The disciples said to Jesus,

"Now you are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech.

Now we realize that you know everything

and that you do not need to have anyone question you.

Because of this we believe that you came from God."

Jesus answered them, "Do you believe now?

Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived

when each of you will be scattered to his own home

and you will leave me alone.

But I am not alone, because the Father is with me.

I have told you this so that you might have peace in me.

In the world you will have trouble,

but take courage, I have conquered the world."

Scriptural Analysis

The disciples display their pre-Easter ignorance yet again. A few verses prior to this Gospel, Jesus tells the disciples, “I have said this to you in figures; the hour is coming when I shall no longer speak to you in figures but tell you plainly of the Father.” (John 16:25) This sections opens up with them noting that Jesus is now talking plainly and not in figures of speech. The disciples fail to understand that the distinction Jesus is making is not in the manner of speech but rather the moment: pre vs. post resurrection. The disciples make a profession of faith, and they are correct in stating that Jesus came from God. However, their profession is lacking because it is based entirely on Jesus’s knowledge and his authority.

Jesus exposes this by telling the disciples that the time will soon come when each will be scattered to his own home. A more literal translation of this phrase would be, “to his own.” In other words, the disciples aren’t just returning to their physical homes; they will retreat inward as their faith in the Lord fails. However, even though Jesus will be left physically alone (as the disciples leave him), he is never spiritually alone because he is in the Father, and the Father is in him.

Jesus closes this section with some words of consolation and reassurance for his disciples. He tells them all of this so that they may have peace as they see these events unfold. Everything that will transpire is doing so according to the will of the Father, and thus they should not fear. The Father has put all of this into Jesus’s power: “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands.” (John 13:3)

Daily Application

The faith of every single Catholic will be tested at some point in their life, possibly multiple times. This is simply a fact of life for a Catholic. An event will transpire in our lives that will shake our faith and make us question what we thought we knew. Our response to such an event will vary. For some of us, we may draw closer to the Lord. For others of us, our faith may weaken or even fail. The disciples underwent the greatest test, and all but Saint John failed. Yet look at how Christ responded. He did not abandon them but came to them, continued to educate them, and called them closer. He does the same for us as well.

We often think of our spiritual progression as being linear, but it is not. It is perhaps one of the most crooked journeys we will go on. We will make progress forward: sometimes at a rapid pace and sometimes at a slow pace. We may even go backwards at times. Consider Simon Peter. He professes that Jesus is the Christ, and then shortly after doing so, is called Satan by our Lord for his ignorance. He will eventually deny the Lord three times, and yet Christ still makes him the first Pope.

Christ continually calls us. The Holy Spirit continues to speak to us, to correct our course when we get off, and to deepen our faith in the Lord. Ideally, we would all have perfect and absolute faith in God at this moment. The reality is that very few of us do. What matters is where we are at the end of our life, at the end of our journey. The men, the disciples, on the day of Jesus’s crucifixion, were not the men they would become. Christ knew this; he knew they would be scattered, as the Gospel says, and yet he still spent three years of his life with them. He knows we are fallen creatures and our faith is not always perfect. So, if you are struggling with your faith, take courage, because He has conquered the world.