From the Friars: History or Story?

As happens occasionally, the other night as I was walking a man stopped me to ask me why I was dressed in the habit. We had a good discussion about religion. He believed in God but only as some kind of impersonal force. I tried to persuade him to consider the miraculous fulfillment of prophecy in the Bible, but he claimed these were only “stories.” This position is fairly common, many are skeptical about anything religious, miraculous or supernatural. How can we know that three wise men came from the east searching for the newborn King of Israel? Or for that matter, how can we know that anything in the Bible, or the other truths of our Faith, are objectively true?

On the human level much could be written about this question, beginning with the fact that St. Luke goes out of his way to emphasize that he was writing an accurate eye-witness account (Lk 1:1-4). But beyond natural evidence, how can very fallible human creatures know with certitude the truths of Salvation History or the Catholic Faith? This is a very important question, and from my experience, most believers do not have a good answer.

Saint Bonaventure reminds us that only God is infallible and knows everything with absolute certitude. But as with so many other things, He is able to share His certitude with us in a limited but real way. In similar ways we share in His power to create, and His ability to love. Hence Jesus says, “if any man’s will is to do His (the Father’s) will, he shall know whether the teaching is from God…” (Jn 7:17) Certitude is given to us by God if we have a right heart that sincerely seeks the truth in order to follow it, like the three wise men.

Charles de Foucauld was an atheist who prayed: “My God, if you exist, let me come to know you.” He was canonized in May of 2022.

Let us thank our Father in Heaven for the great gift of our Faith, to know the Truth. And let us draw others to the Light of the World by living and speaking the truth in love.

Happy Epiphany!

–Fr. Peter