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Jesus said to them: “I have come into this world so that a sentence may fall upon it, that those who are blind should see, and those who see should become blind. If you were blind, you would not be guilty. It is because you protest, ‘We can see clearly,’ that you cannot be rid of your guilt.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

He Saw & Believed

Fr. David Friel · March 31, 2013

HEN MARY MADGALENE ARRIVES at the tomb and finds the stone rolled back, confusion falls upon her. She is so afflicted by the events of the last several days that she comes to mourn at Jesus’ tomb before the sun even rose. Seeing the tomb unsealed was very unexpected. What should she make of this scene? When she confronts Peter and the Beloved Disciple with the strange news, she says, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put Him.” Can you picture Mary Magdalene in this state of confused, grief-stricken hysteria? All she can say is, “What happened? Which way did He go?”

The experience is very different for the Beloved Disciple. He runs with great speed to the tomb, indicative not only of youthfulness but also of his anticipatory faith. When he arrives, the Beloved Disciple deferentially waits for Peter to go inside first. Notably, however, the Gospel tells us only that Peter “saw” the burials cloths folded and placed aside. Thereafter, we are subtly told that the Beloved Disciple “saw and believed.” Instantaneously, the sequence of events that confused Mary Magdalene and perplexed Peter are intuited. The Beloved Disciple does not get caught up wondering where Jesus has gone. He immediately thinks “of what is above, not of what is on earth.” He believes, on account of God’s gift and the evidence surrounding him, that “Christ is seated at the right hand of God.”

Shortly after this, the Apostles return home, leaving Mary Magdalene alone at the tomb. There, the Lord appears to her, and she becomes the first witness of the Resurrection. Before long, according to the Acts of the Apostles, Peter would be fearlessly traveling to “preach to the people and testify” that Jesus was “raised on the third day.” But it was the Beloved Disciple who first believed.

For this reason, the Beloved Disciple is a tremendous model of faith. In this Year of Faith, we are celebrating as a universal Church a virtue that has its origin in Easter Day. Were it not for the Paschal Mystery—the suffering, death, and ultimate Resurrection of our Lord—Christian faith would have no basis. The Letter to the Hebrews defines faith as “the substance of things to be hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). The coming to faith of the Beloved Disciple wasn’t merely the logical deduction of a sequence of events unexplainable by any other means. Surely another observer could have fabricated various explanations for what he and Peter and Mary Magdalene had seen. The coming to faith of the Beloved Disciple begins with his acceptance of what Jesus had revealed about Himself and ends with the Disciple’s interior illumination by grace.

That Jesus could die on the Cross and yet be raised from the dead is the definitive motive of credibility. For one who has faith, the state of confusion never lasts long. Mary Magdalene, who began that first Easter morning in utter confusion, declares this in the sequence for today’s feast: “Christ my hope is arisen. . . . Christ indeed from death is risen, our new life obtaining.” The Easter mystery serves as the bedrock for our faith, even as it did for the first disciples.

At the sight of our Savior’s rising, and formed by the virtue of faith, we dare to say: Alleluia!

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and serves as Director of Liturgy at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    How Well Does ICEL Know Latin?
    This year, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June 2025) falls on a Sunday. It’s not necessary to be an eminent Latin scholar to be horrified by examples like this, which have been in place since 1970. For the last 55 years, anyone who’s attempted to correct such errors has been threatened with legal action. It is simply unbelievable that the (mandatory) texts of the Holy Mass began being sold for a profit in the 1970s. How much longer will this gruesome situation last?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Is the USCCB trolling us?
    I realize I’m going to come across as a “Negative Nancy” … but I can’t help myself. This kind of stuff is beyond ridiculous. There are already way too many options in the MISSALE RECENS. Adding more will simply confuse the faithful even more. We seriously need to band together and start creating a “REFORM OF THE REFORM” Missale Romanum so it will be ready when the time comes.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Common” Responsorial Psalm?
    I try to avoid arguing about liturgical legislation (even with Catholic priests) because it seems like many folks hold certain views—and nothing will persuade them to believe differently. You can show them 100 church documents, but it matters not. They won’t budge. Sometimes I’m confronted by people who insist that “there’s no such thing” as a COMMON RESPONSORIAL PSALM. When that happens, I show them a copy of the official legislation in Latin. I have occasionally prevailed by means of this method.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

«In the same quarter where he was crucified there was a garden.» (John 19:41) — The word “garden” hinted at Eden and the fall of man, as it also suggested through its flowers in the springtime the Resurrection from the dead.

— Fulton J. Sheen

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  • Is the USCCB trolling us?
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  • “Common” Responsorial Psalm?

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