In FAITH

April 5, 2026 – Easter Sunday

Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040526.cfm)

Easy for us to say nowadays, “To see is to believe”. What we really mean is that we need to see something before we accept that things really exist or occur. Somehow we need to witness something first before believing on it. But we also know that this is not always true, because keep it mind, not everything we see is real. And there is more to life than just seeing what is before us. Like, we recognize perfection, love, joy, happiness, trust & faith are more than just what meet the eyes. We see more then in life if & when we believe.

And thus for us believers & followers of Christ, we proclaim and it is more true to say “To believe is to see” than “to see is to believe” then. Our faith in Christ makes us see & realize the ever-presence of the God-with-Us Resurrected Lord Jesus present in our very lives now & always.

Today we come to appreciate the Lord’s resurrection from the experience of John the Evangelist, the disciple who is said to be “the one who Jesus loved”. Unlike Mary Magdalene who is the one who first saw the empty tomb, John is the first one to observe that the burial cloths is still there. Though he did not came in first, but he is the first to see the burial cloths without the body.

Meaning, he is the first one to see & realize, (the first to get & understand) the deeper meaning of the body-less tomb but still present burial cloths. He is then the first one in faith who witnessed & believed in the Resurrection of the our Lord.

As His beloved disciple, John must be the first one who believed in the Lord’s resurrection. As he witnessed the body-less empty-tomb but present burial cloths, John realized that what Jesus has been telling all along are true & that Jesus has indeed resurrected. Yes, same John, who also first recognized the presence of the Resurrected Jesus in their midst, proclaims & shares His faith to us, saying: “we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible to us, what we have seen and heard we proclaim now to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us…We are writing this so that our joy may be complete.”

However, for those who does not  believe, the empty tomb is nothing & insignificant. They do not believe it is real & existent because they do not witness & do not find meaning on it. They disregard the incident & even spun stories & fake news to justify their lack of faith. They fail to see since then & until now the risen Christ because of their unbelief.

We remember that the good news of Christ’s resurrection is based on faith & continue to happen into our lives because of our faith. Christ died & has risen so that we & the world may believe. His life, death & resurrection is in order for us to have faith in Him in life.

God through His son Jesus has a lot better offer us in life than just forgiveness & mercy for our sin. All God wants & Jesus expects from us is to believe & trust in Him so that we may see & recognize eternal life being offered us now & always.

By faith in Him we come to see & witness & in faith, we are graced with God’s  redemption.

Faith then makes us witness God’s grace upon us & same faith moves us to be evangelists, like John – proclaiming what we witness & sharing what believe, by our words & action, so that others too may have our joy of being with God through Jesus.

With Our Mother of Perpetual Help & John Evangelist who believe in our risen Christ, may we be open & ready always to witness & share our risen Lord Jesus into our home & others for the year to come.

So May It Be. Amen