Do you have doubts, or do you simply have difficulties?
People will sometimes say that they have doubts about certain teachings of the Catholic Faith. It might concern something strictly theological, like the Trinity or the Virgin Birth of Jesus; or it might be about a moral matter, like the proscription against artificial contraception or in vitro fertilization. But, in reality, do these people actually have doubts, or are they simply experiencing what St. John Henry Newman referred to as “difficulties”? One of Newman’s best-known sayings is this one: “Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt.”
It’s normal to have difficulty understanding the Blessed Trinity; it’s normal to have difficulty grasping how God became man in Christ Jesus; it’s even normal to have difficulty understanding the reasons behind some of the Church’s moral teachings. But all those difficulties put together and multiplied by 10,000 do not add up to one single doubt! As Cardinal Newman reminded us, difficulties and doubts are qualitatively different things. This is something that many sincere believers do not seem to realize; hence they confuse the two realities. They ponder and wonder and question, and they think they’re having doubts, when in actuality they’re simply experiencing “difficulties,” some of which even the great saints experienced.
Our Blessed Mother Mary, at the Annunciation, provides us with a case in point. If you read this story from Luke 1 (which we will hear in our gospel reading this Sunday) without knowing the difference between difficulties and doubts, you might make the mistake of thinking that Mary actually doubted the Lord — especially when she said to Gabriel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” But that’s not the case. Mary didn’t doubt the Lord — not for a single second! However, she did experience a number of difficulties that she initially couldn’t make sense of. For example, when the angel first appeared to her and extended his famous greeting (“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you”), it says that Mary was “greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.” At first glance it appears as if Mary was saying to Gabriel, “Can God possibly do such a thing?”
But here we’re in the realm of difficulty, not doubt.
This verse is one of the clearest indications in Scripture that Mary was always a virgin, even after the birth of Jesus. If Mary intended on living a normal conjugal life with Joseph, she would have had no reason to ask a question about how the conception of the Savior would occur. We have no reason to think that Mary was ignorant of the basic principles of biology.
The way the question is phrased indicates that Mary and Joseph intended to refrain from relations during their entire marriage, which supports the Catholic teaching that Mary’s virginity was perpetual, not temporary. Based on her perpetual virginity, Mary had difficulty understanding how she was going to get pregnant and have a child. Gabriel, of course, told her how, and that eliminated the difficulty — after which Mary expressed the faith that had been in her heart all along. She said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
Mary needed the help of Gabriel to deal with the difficulties she experienced at the Annunciation. At times we may also need help dealing with ours. Do we seek that help when necessary, and deal with our difficulties quickly and effectively? Or do we just sit back and let them multiply? Ten thousand difficulties do not make a doubt — that’s true; but even a few difficulties can lead to doubt if they’re never addressed.
