Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, I recognize that human science and limited reason often lead to error because they cannot penetrate your infinite depths. I turn away from the darkness of human intelligence and toward the light of faith, which is a participation in your own eternal truth.
Grant me the grace to see the world as you see it. Through the eyes of faith, let me perceive things as they truly are, recognizing your goodness toward those who seek you and the reality of your justice toward those who abandon you.
Amen.
John 20:24-29
24Now Thomas, one of the twelve, who is called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25The other disciples therefore said to him: We have seen the Lord. But he said to them: Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe. 26And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said: Peace be to you. 27Then he saith to Thomas: Put in thy finger hither, and see my hands; and bring hither thy hand, and put it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing. 28Thomas answered, and said to him: My Lord, and my God. 29Jesus saith to him: Because thou hast seen me, Thomas, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed.
St. John Eudes
St. John Eudes explains that “reason and human science often lead you into error” because they are limited. The Gospel of St. Thomas provides the perfect case study: Thomas sought the “human science” of touch to verify the Resurrection. However, the “light of faith is a participation in the truth and light of God.” It shows things as God sees them. St. John Eudes evaluates the differentiator of faith as “penetrating God’s shadows” to go straight to his perfections. Faith does not debase God’s greatness to fit our minds; it stretches our minds to fit His greatness.
While human reason and science are often darkened by the obscurity of sin and limited by their own finitude, the “light of faith” offers a participation in God’s own perspective. Faith allows the believer to see things “as God sees them,” penetrating the shadows that baffle human intelligence to touch the infinity of His perfections.
“Reason and human science often lead you into error because they are too weak… But the light of faith is a participation in the truth and light of God… it shows you things as God sees them.”
— St. John Eudes
Mary and the Magisterium
If human reason is too weak to penetrate the infinite, Mary utilized the “light of faith” to see God as He truly is. St. John Eudes teaches that faith is a participation in the light of God, allowing the soul to see things as they exist in the eyes of the Creator. Mary, through this mechanism, contemplated God “face to face” in the Person of her Son. This clarity of vision serves as the archetype for the Church’s dogmatic clarity; the Magisterium’s infallible definitions are not merely human deductions, but a participation in Mary’s own clear, unclouded vision of her Son. Like Mary, the Church penetrates the “divine shadows” to grasp the infinity of God’s perfections without debasing His greatness.
- Where in my life am I demanding "human science" and proof rather than trusting the "light of faith"?
- How can I better submit my intellect to the truths taught by the Church, even when they seem obscure?
Closing Prayer
Lord, lead me through the shadows of this life until I am blessed to behold Thy face in the light of heaven.
Amen.
