Smarter than Science

Learning to see more with the eyes of faith

11/24/2018

Luke 20:27-40 Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, came forward and put this question to Jesus, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us, If someone’s brother dies leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married a woman but died childless. Then the second and the third married her, and likewise all the seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her.” Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise.

Faith always allows you to see more than what meets the eye, not less. Some modern people argue that people of faith are uneducated and backward, while those who see the world through science and technology are smarter and advanced. To be sure, mankind owes a deep debt of thanks to science for amazing advances. No doubt about it. But the eyes of science only see the literal level of life, while the eyes of faith gaze on the symbolical, the spiritual, and even the sacramental level of reality. A man who looks lovingly into the eyes of his beloved sees the whole universe, but an optometrist only sees cornea and iris.

When people of faith look at the night sky, they see more than cold, dead space, and billions and billions of solitary stars. Rather, they see the symbolic heavens and even the abode of God. C. S. Lewis tried to relate this vision of faith in his science-fiction book called Out of the Silent Planet. The protagonist named Ransom travels to another planet and his experience of outer space is the exact opposite of what modern science would suggest. He reflects: “The very name ‘Space” seemed a blasphemous libel for his empyrean ocean of radiance in which they swam. He could not call it ‘dead’; he felt life pouring into him from it every moment.” In other words, to the eyes of faith the universe is not empty, it is full. It is not cold and lifeless, it is pulsating with life all around. After Dante travels through the seven heavens and finally stands before the throne of God, he declares in his final verse of The Divine Comedy staring into God’s face: “The Love that moves the Sun and the other stars.” Italy’s greatest poet did not see less through the eyes of faith, he saw more. He saw above and beyond the literal level (where science stands) and rose to the level of love (where faith finds itself), full of the symbolical, the spiritual and the sacramental.

Jesus tries to teach the Sadducees to see beyond the literal level, too, but they are stuck on the scientific level. They present a scenario in which a woman marries seven brothers – something required by Levitical law – and then they ask: “At the resurrection of whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her.” Have you ever wondered what happens to people who remarry when they get to heaven?  You’re not alone.  Jesus’ answer not only gives them a glimpse of heaven, but also reveals how limited their own understanding is. They think too literally. He explains: “The children of this age (on earth) marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age (heaven) and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry not are given in marriage. They can no longer die, they are like the angels; and they are the children of God.” In other words, marriage is for earth, but not for heaven. But that doesn’t mean heaven will be less, but rather more: we will enjoy more love and more life there than here. People of faith, therefore, are not moved by the love of a man or a woman, but like Dante said, they are moved by “the Love that moves the Sun and the other stars.” Jesus was inviting the Sadducees to see the world as a lover and not as an optometrist; so they could see more reality, not less.

I think every time we experience one of the seven sacraments, we are training our eyes to see more than what meets the eye, not less. When we witness water poured over a baby’s head, they eyes of faith see a newborn child of God, not just a crying baby. When a bishop smears Sacred Chrism on a teenager’s forehead, the eyes of faith see a newly commissioned solider in Christ’s army. When we hear the words of consecration at Mass, they eyes of faith behold not bread and wine, but the Body and Blood of our Savior. When a couple consummates their marriage, the eyes of faith do not see “four bare legs in a bed” but a foretaste of the marriage of Christ and his Church. When we see a dying person anointed with oil, the eyes of faith see the hope of healing and the hope of heaven. To see with faith is to leap beyond the literal level to the spiritual and sacramental, to see more not less of what meets the eyes.

In a couple of weeks, we will hear the story of three Magi or Wise Men who followed a star to find the newborn King of the Jews, the Son of God. When they looked up at the night sky, they did not see cold, dead space. Rather, they saw “the Love that moves the Sun and the other stars.” People of faith may not be smarter than scientists, but they may be wiser.

Praised be Jesus Christ!