Whenever I am in Jerusalem, I visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. It is an ancient church built over the site of Golgotha where Jesus died and the tomb where he was buried. They’re very close to each other: both places are inside of one huge church which has been built and re-built since the earliest days of Christianity. The tomb itself is inside a small, free-standing building called the Aedicule, which means a small house. It’s a chapel inside of a church. That small chapel only accommodates about three people. You can stand inside and reach out and touch the walls. The only thing inside is the marble tomb itself. It is an awe-inspiring experience to be there.

One day, I was sitting on a stone bench about 30 feet in front of the entrance to the Aedicule. At certain times, pilgrims are allowed inside, but the lines are long and the wait can be up to an hour. Sitting next to me was a lady I did not know until she started speaking to me in English. There are so many people from all over the world who come to pray in that church, one never is quite sure what language might be spoken. But this lady happened to be from Ohio and she was waiting for her friends to go inside the chapel. She didn’t want to go inside. So when her friends got close to the entrance, they motioned for her to join them. Instead, she shook her head and told them, “That’s alright; he’s not in there anyway.” She was right. The tomb is empty.

No one saw Jesus rise from the dead. It happened sometime between Good Friday evening and Easter Sunday morning.

The Gospels and St. Paul do not tell us how or when the Resurrection took place. But they are all emphatic that several people (St. Paul says as many as 500) “saw” the Risen Christ. Paul counts himself as one of those people, but his encounter took place some 20 years after the event. The testimony of these witnesses is the foundation of Christian belief.

It is estimated that since the beginning of the human race, about 108 billion people have been born. Of those, about 7 billion are still alive. The Question is: what happened to the other 101 billion people who have died? It is an important question, a good question, and it remains essentially that – a question. If it were on an exam, there would be no correct answer. We do not know.

Asking a question of this importance is another word for faith. Faith is not provable, in the mathematical sense of the word. Faith is something possible only by faith itself.

As we headed into today’s gospel, even those who saw the Risen Christ were surprised, frightened, and questioning. Sometimes people will not believe even when all the proof they demand is standing right in front of them.

Even an honest atheist has to admit they have doubts that maybe they might be wrong.

Likewise, even an honest believer has to admit that they sometimes have doubts that maybe they are wrong.

Living with doubts – or, let’s say questions – is not contrary to believing. Anyone who says one way or the other that they do not have any doubts is not being honest with themselves.

The American Trappist monk, Thomas Merton, was one of the four Americans Pope Francis mentioned in his speech to the US Congress. He called them examples of the best people who embodied the American spirit. Only two of them were Catholic. Thomas Merton once wrote the following: “[F]aith is a decision, a judgement that is fully and deliberately taken in the light of a truth that cannot be proven.”

Let’s look at this from another angle. Like faith, love is also a decision. It is not always a matter of good feelings. No matter whom one loves, one must time and again decide to continue loving. People can be a challenge, and inconvenience, even questionable. One should not worry about these uncertainties whether or not we sometimes question if someone loves us when they say they do.

To return to the question about those billions of people who have died. We should not worry about them. Life is changed, not ended with death. We believe they are with God.

As St. Paul writes to the community of Corinth: “Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain… If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.”

Someday I hope to visit Jerusalem again. When I do, I will sit on that stone bench outside the tomb where I believe Jesus rose from the dead. I will think of that lady from Ohio and think of her honest profession of faith: “That’s alright; he’s not in there anyway.”
I will also remember the words of Jesus, “Wherever two or three gather in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

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