Acts 8:1-8 / John 6:35-40
If we say that seeing is believing, then we may have to think again. At least we know that what we see in movies are not that real, although the actors and the props are real enough.
But what is truly amazing is that with the rise of computer graphics, what we see in movies may not even exist in reality.
So we may or may not believe in what we see, but we may be very impressed with it.
In the gospel, Jesus told the people, "You can see me and still you do not believe."
Yes, the people could see Jesus, that He was real, with flesh and blood, but maybe not that impressive.
Yes, impressions count, and impressions will also form conclusions, and it seemed that the people's conclusion about Jesus was that He was not very impressive. So the people wrote Him off.
And if people then were to see what was happening with the Church in the 1st reading, they also would have probably written off the Church.
Under bitter persecution and with Saul out for the total destruction, the Church would have stood no chance at all to survive.
Yet the Church survived, and even for 2000 years. But with the crisis of faith in the Church, we may wonder about the future of her existence. Also the current state of the Church is not that impressive either.
Whatever impression we may have of the Church, we also must know that there is the mystery of the Church, and that is the presence of the Holy Spirit guiding the Church.
We may not be able to see the presence of the Holy Spirit, but let us believe in it, and then we will be able to see more than what meets the eye.