Tag: <span>Faith</span>

July 30, 2021July 28, 2021

Apparently Powerless

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

In today’s gospel, we see Jesus frustrated at the inability of those from his own town to recognize and accept His mission, and unable to perform many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

We may wonder why it is that, as Jesus says, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and in his own house.” (Interestingly Moses, through whom God is working in the first reading, was largely exempted from this phenomenon in the divine plan; though a Hebrew, he had been exiled from his own people as a baby.)

The gospel provides ample clues as to the reasoning for this hometown rejection of prophets, as it cites the people’s familiarity with Jesus’ background and kin. Bottom line: They knew Jesus’ human normalcy and ordinariness; in their minds, prophets were supposed to be something utterly different, in some ways superhuman. All flaming chariots, glowing faces, spontaneously combusting sacrifices, and tablets shattering portentously on the ground.

But Jesus, who was to be the fulfillment of Isaiah’s suffering servant prophecy, was not exempt from the human condition and its limitations in any sense. While He never sinned, the limitations deriving from the penalty for original sin affected Him as much as any other, by His own eternal design and will.

Jesus’ subjection to these limitations in His own regard led to a lack of faith among the people of His town. And later, to further discourage faith in Him, it is these limitations that the Pharisees throw at Him at His crucifixion: “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, if you are the Son of God, and come down from the cross!”

It is the experience of these same limitations and penalties that threaten to erode our faith in Jesus, also. As we suffer in life, and behold the chaos that seems constantly to befall humankind, we can unconsciously or consciously consider that Jesus is powerless against these. With His coming, none of these sufferings and limitations on earth were eliminated. Did He really do anything at all? Where is His power?

The truth is that confident power often manifests itself in restraint. Jesus, the Omnipotent, did not come to impose a reversal of original sin or personal sin, with all their earthly consequences and effects, upon us. He came to open a door, to allow us individually to choose the obedience that Adam and Eve had rejected on our behalf. And on those who do choose Him and that door, He confers immense, even supernatural dignity, and power–power to become children of God (cf. Jn. 1:12).

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus for staunch and unyielding protection from the negative influences of the base and the banal on your faith and trust in Him. Ask Him to increase that faith and trust every day, by whatever means He chooses, whether those involve beautiful gifts or difficult suffering.

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June 26, 2021June 25, 2021

Letting God

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

Why is it so hard simply to believe that God will keep his word?

Today’s readings are all about faith. We see some examples of people who are slow to believe. In the first reading, Sarah chuckles in disbelief as the messengers of God predict her childbirth. In the gospel, Jesus refers to those of the house of Israel who lack faith.

But we also see examples of great faith and trust. Abraham’s faith wins him great blessings from God, and the centurion in the gospel–notably not one of God’s people, not an Israelite–demonstrates not only great humility before Christ in declaring his unworthiness to receive Him, but also great faith and trust that Jesus can cure his servant without even being physically present.

And in both of these readings, the strong faith of one benefits others. Abraham’s faith wins for him the blessing of a son–and the same blessing even for his disbelieving wife Sarah. In the gospel, the centurion’s faith wins the salvation of his servant from paralysis.

Heroic faith casts a broad glow; it illuminates and benefits the lives of others, who may not possess such faith.

But again, why is it so hard simply to believe that God will keep his word? Why do we so often fail to demonstrate the faith of Abraham, and fail to bring God’s blessings upon us, like the centurion?

It runs fully against our nature to place our understanding of the protagonist role in our lives in God, rather than ourselves. We so dearly want to achieve accomplishments that we can be proud of, and conversely, how ashamed we are of our shortcomings and failures. Also, we are embittered by other humans’ lack of love, to the point that the bitterness blurs our view of God’s infinite love

Faith requires a radical shift of mentality. It is not about our accomplishments; it is about what God can do and wants to do, and indeed has already done in us. It is not about our failures; it is about our lives offered to Him daily as a gift, with all their foibles and warts. It is not about others’ mistreatment of us; it is about God’s tender care for us.

Those who realize this mentality shift in their lives attain limitless blessings from God, in this life and eternity.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus for the only thing He asks of you: Trust. Ask Him to fill your life with the certainty expressed in Mary’s Magnificat, which becomes the psalm response for today: The Lord has remembered his mercy.

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June 23, 2021June 22, 2021

Heroes

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

The ideal followers of the pagan gods in ancient Roman and Greek civilizations were the great, strong heroes–the mighty warriors, who gained victory for their people.

As Christians, without perhaps realizing it, sometimes strive to emulate these sorts of heroes in our service of God. We strive to be great protectors as fathers, the wisest and most caring of mothers, great communicators of the truth on social media, reliable rocks to our friends.

By contrast, Abram won God’s favor in another way in today’s first reading, after God had made him a great promise: “Abram put his faith in the Lord, who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.”

As Heb. 11:8-12 tells us, Abram found favor of the Lord, not by doing Him service, but by trusting in His promise.

When we trust in God’s providential promise, a feat much harder than it sounds, we become the tree that bears great fruit described in today’s gospel.

Trust turns us into the hero of our neighbor that we cannot become by our own effort, because we cease fretting for our own welfare, and gain the perspective that opens our eyes to others’ needs.

Faith and trust alone turn us into spiritual giants, worthy of the name of Christians.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to do whatever it takes, even allowing for great trials in your life if it is His will, to convey to you the gift of strong, invincible faith and trust.

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May 22, 2021May 10, 2021

Happy in House Arrest

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

In a sense, Paul would have every right to be frustrated with his life. He was imprisoned in Jerusalem, and wound up having to appeal his case all the way to Rome. When he was sent to Rome for the appeal, he wound up under house arrest for a full two years. This, all at the urging, not of the Romans, but of his brother Jews. His own countrymen and brothers in the Jewish faith were urging for him to be put to death. And the effect on his ministry was real: He was severely limited geographically for an extended period, with consequent drastic limitation to the reach of his message.

But the first reading presents his situation in a tone that shows that this is all just “part of the story.” It even portrays his reality in a positive light: “He remained for two full years in his lodgings. He received all who came to him, and with complete assurance and without hindrance he proclaimed the Kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Because of the positive tones of the whole book of Acts, we can superficially think that everything was easy, exciting, productive, successful in the nascent Church. But in reality, it was setback after setback after setback. What made for the positive outlook, then? Simply this: The apostles saw everything–logical and random, helps and hindrances–everything as coming from the hand of God for the furthering of His Kingdom. In their eyes, He was the author, the protagonist, and the driver; they, merely the willing vehicles of His grace.

In today’s gospel, we see Peter curious about the fate of John the Evangelist. As Peter went out and fed Jesus’ sheep, and ultimately died for Him, what would happen to John? Jesus essentially responded that it was none of Peter’s business. But it was more than an admonition not to be overly curious about others. When He said, “What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours?”, Jesus was also affirming that the circumstances of the mission are not what matters–but rather fulfillment of God’s will, that is, a continuous “yes” to God. God takes care of the rest.

Filled with a sense of the power of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, the early apostles were filled with joy and optimism. What difficult circumstances are you enduring right now? With that same sense of Jesus’ sovereign power, are you able to be similarly optimistic?

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to fill you with joy and optimism in the most bewildering and difficult of circumstances, certain that He is curating with tender care every aspect of your life–the life you have given to Him freely to care for.

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May 1, 2021April 19, 2021

Randomness

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

We may think ill of Philip for demanding of Jesus that He show him the Father. After all, Jesus had been working miracles in His Father’s name for a long time now. Did Philip not realize that the Father was with Him? As Jesus Himself asks, ““Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip?”

But in a way, Philip’s wanting that extra bit of encouragement is understandable. It happens to us, too. No matter how much we have experienced Christ in our own lives, the pitiless randomness of the hand of evil and of misfortune is a formidable power to shake our faith. How can I believe myself to be protected by the hand of Providence, when so much random evil seems to befall me? Not to mention the evils that happen to so many others in the world?

Evil is real, and it does have a certain random pitilessness to it. When evil was introduced into the world with original sin, a massive rupture in nature came with it, that makes our lives in many ways a misery. This earth as a dwelling place is, as an ancient hymn calls it, a “valley of tears.”

In promising His providential action in our lives, God does not promise to eliminate all suffering in our lives, and all misfortune. To do so would be to reverse human freedom by eliminating its effects.

But, as St. Paul says, we know that “all things work for good for those who love God.” For those who love God, He curates their lives so intimately, attentively, and personally, that all that befalls them becomes an occasion of grace and even joy.

So we see it to be in the first reading, when St. Paul and St. Barnabas are preaching. The Jewish leaders shout them down to the point that the preachers announce that they are moving on to the Gentiles with their message–and the Gentiles rejoice. Then, those same leaders stir up the faithful Jewish people to initiate a persecution, and Paul and Barnabas are exiled, right as they are starting to reach the hearts of the Gentiles.

Yet, curiously, the two saints’ reaction is not one of anger and frustration–though they did shake the dust from their feet in protest, per Jesus’ command in the Gospel (cf. Mt. 10:14). Rather, they “were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.” They sensed the action and plan of the Holy Spirit leading them on the path of Providence, even amid the evil that befell them.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus for unshakable faith, that no evil or misfortune can threaten. Tell Him that you are ready to walk the path that He walked, subject to the randomness and evil of the world, and to carry your cross behind Him. And, tell Him that you trust Him to take care of you.

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April 24, 2021April 5, 2021

Good Choice

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

Simon Peter appears in today’s gospel, as well as in today’s first reading.

In the Gospel, when Jesus’ teaching becomes very difficult to understand and maybe even a bit disturbing, Peter makes the decision that few others make: He stays with Jesus, not because he understands the teaching, but because He believes in Jesus. He has seen enough to become permanently convinced.

It took Jesus’ death and Resurrection, as well as the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, to bear out Peter’s decision, but it is fully borne out in today’s first reading. We see him heal a man who had been paralyzed for eight years, as well as a fellow disciple. Jesus’ life and power have come to maturity in him.

We don’t choose Jesus to see immediate signs and wonders in our lives; we choose Him because we believe in Him. The gifts that He will bring–we let Him bring those as He sees fit, in His own time. But bring them He will, in response to our unconditional “yes” to Him, like Peter’s.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to give you a heart like St. Peter’s which, through the thick and thin of suffering, disappointment, and even personal weakness and sin, chose Jesus forever, and wound up reaping the fruit of that choice.

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April 23, 2021April 5, 2021

Fruit in Grace

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

In today’s first reading, we see how Paul, a murderous persecutor of Christians, received through no merit of his own the grace of conversion, ultimately to become the great Apostle to the Gentiles.

If God granted such a grace to a brutal persecutor, what graces will He not give to you, if you give your life to Him daily and beg Him for the gifts of faithfulness and fruitfulness? Sometimes we do not feel particularly passionate for the Gospel, or fruitful for the Kingdom of God. But if our daily gift to Him is sincere, we can trust that He will use it for His Church–even if we do not become itinerant preachers, as Paul did.

Jesus provides for us the clincher of fruitfulness in today’s gospel: If we eat His Flesh and drink His blood, we will have His life within us, and enlivened with that life, by His power our fruitfulness for the mission of the Gospel is guaranteed.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to help you to perceive your worth and value, not according to the measures of the world or of other people, but by the measure of faith, gift, and eternity–which was the measure of His own life, and that of His mother.

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February 28, 2021February 28, 2021

The Ram of Sacrifice

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

Abraham’s obedience and trust in God know no equal in any creature, except in the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Abraham was ordered to sacrifice his son Isaac–to slaughter him as an offering. Abraham was so absolute in his trust in God, the Creator and definer of all good, that he did not hesitate to obey. Unlike Adam and Eve, he did not pass God’s command through the filter of what seemed best for him. God’s commands themselves were the only filter; all else was a relative good.

We must not imagine that this was a piece of cake for Abraham, that he did not use his mind. He could not see the other side of this. He had no idea how God could possibly bring good out of such a command. The entire rest of his life appeared dark as he ascended the mountain with Isaac.

But, he trusted.

The resonance of his trust in history is incalculable. The Lord predicts to him in the first reading the distant reality of his descendants–the entire nation of Israel–defeating the Canaanites to enter and take possession of the promised land. His descendants will be countless, and will include Jesus Himself, the Son of God–and by extension, in faith, all those who follow Jesus.

All because he trusted, and obeyed.

The Blessed Virgin Mary and Abraham are so similar in this–Mary too, because of her faith and trust under the Cross of her Son, causes resounding impact down through history. She wins a massive increase in the application through the ages of Christ’s infinitely powerful sacrifice in the hearts of believers and non-believers alike. How many conversions from faithlessness, godlessness, and despair are directly attributable to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary?

And what about your obedience to God? Are you ready to make it absolute, that aspect of your life to which all other goods are relative? If so, the resonance of your life will be powerful like Abraham’s and Mary’s, with profound effect for the good of your loved ones and far, far beyond.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to give you obedience like His, like His mother’s, like Abraham’s. Ask Him to help you to understand how obedience was the secret of the power of His saving act, and is the secret of the power of the Christian. And ask Him to fill you with such trusting love for God, that you will obey His will no matter what the cost.

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January 30, 2021January 20, 2021

Tempest-Tossed

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

The first reading praises the faith of Abraham and puts it in context, the context of coming salvation. Regarding eternal salvation in Christ, the reading says of Abraham and his descendants, “They did not receive what had been promised but saw it and greeted it from afar and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth, for those who speak thus show that they are seeking a homeland.”

And well might the faith of Abraham be praised. Imagine God coming to you and telling you, like Him, to sacrifice your child. You prepare to do so, not out of servile submission to a God you fear because you consider Him brutal and bloody, but out of such faith in His goodness, that you know His plan to be good in spite of the apparent evil confronting you. It is possible that there is no faith greater than that of Abraham in the history of mankind, save perhaps that of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who watched her Son slaughtered on Calvary.

In reality, though, we are all called to walk in a faith similar to Abraham’s as we sojourn through this world. The evil around us continually threatens to block the sun of God’s promise of eternal happiness. It continually threatens to block out the light of the reality of a loving God.

And, often enough, what happened to the disciples in today’s gospel likewise happens to us. The boat of our life is tossed by trials and tribulations that loom authentically threatening; stresses real, and challenges seemingly insurmountable. In all of this, Abraham’s ancient example, so eloquently cited in Hebrews, shines a beacon of light. Even as the Lord appears to sleep in the stern, the welfare of our little boat is in His capable hands; it is His course that it follows through the deep.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: The Gospel admonishes us not to give in to our worries and cares; to trust with unwavering faith. In a context of faith and trust, our stresses and worries are an ideal gift to serve up on a platter to our God, even at the height of their effect. Think of the burdens you are bearing right now. Don’t ask Jesus to eliminate them. Offer them to Him generously, in union with His cross, in union with the sufferings of Our Lady under that cross, for the spiritual welfare of many.

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December 20, 2020December 16, 2020

Housebuilder

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

Christian life is hard. There is a critical element of dogged consistency to it. It is not just a question of following the “do nots” of the Ten Commandments, though this in itself presents its challenges. It is also a question of consistency in our sacramental life and prayer time, especially meditation on Scripture. Also, there is an element of being present for others and helping them to live the faith, per the demands of our vocation–not to mention Christian charity, both toward the poor and toward each of our neighbors.

Because “our part” in the Christian life is not easy, we often make the mistake that David did in today’s first reading. He decided he was going to build a house for the Lord.

God appears both pleased, in a way, and yet, corrective. His words seem to say, “What do you mean you are going to build me a house? Do you think I need you to provide my needs for me? Look at what I’ve done for you…but that’s only the beginning. I’m going to build a house for you that will last forever.” He doesn’t punish David for his misunderstanding of things. To the contrary, He reconfirms the great destiny He has in store for David’s line.

How this resonates for us in our Christian life! Because “our part” in our relationship with God seems daunting at times, we make the mistake that our mission on this earth is to do something monumental for God. We grow restless when we don’t find something glamorous to achieve on His behalf.

As challenging as the Christian life is, especially when we consider how much needs to be changed in the world if it is to be brought back to God, we can react like David: “Hey, I think I’ll go build God a thing.”

The most glorious, wonderful paradox in Christian life: Far, far more productive is Mary’s attitude toward God, present conveniently for us in today’s Gospel passage in sharp contrast to David’s: “I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done unto me according to your word.” Mary realizes from moment zero that the wonders to be worked in her life are to be worked by God Himself. Her life is not her big project for God. It is His big project for her.

Thus, Mary’s gift of herself, of her life, to God is not the gift of a grand project for achievement, but rather the gift of her “yes,” her enthusiastic embracing of His plan for her, whatever it will bring.

Even as Mary’s response contrasts with David’s in the first reading encounter with God, it also fulfills it. In her perfect embodiment of God’s plan, with perfect grace, Mary brings forth Him who is the Personification of the permanence of the reign of David’s house.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to shape and purify your understanding of your relationship with Him. Ask Him to help you to be faithful to all the demands of Christian life, but to remember that all of this is just your simple, humble “yes” that sets the stage for Him to accomplish things in your life that are beyond your imagination.

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