Belief in Our Life -- A Daily Encounter

I ask myself "What makes me different from my brothers and my sister?" Usually a person asked that question would at some point describe an occupation. As a priest what is the uniqueness that makes me different form a psychiatrist, a psychologist, a counselor? There is a commonality there among the four professions. Yet, while all in their four vocations strive to assist others, it is the vocation of priesthood that incorporates every other man, woman and child into the priestly life. That inclusion is brought about by the priest sharing and helping his community in what we call faith, what the author of the Letter to the Hebrews calls "the assurance of things hoped for and conviction of things not seen" (ch 11, v 1).

When I stand at the altar of our church and look out to those who gathered, each in his/her usual pew of preference (surely a possible topic for a PhD dissertation!!!), I can also see beyond the glass doors that open out to a busy professional neighborhood or doors that open in to a place where some professionals and others gather to engage with me in a testament to One we have never seen. Together, dealing with this mysteries, we celebrate belief, trust and genuine heartfelt confidence in a God who is more important than what is seen, heard or touched.

It is my belief, my faith, that stirs me to pray, to read, read and reread so as to understand, as best as humanly possible, that the belief I share with the full community to believers is beyond, more than, greater than all I read about in newspapers or hear discussed on radio or TV stations.

As my faith needs to be strong and always open to where God leads me, so that I can be the teacher God has called me to be, so too the presence and searching of those praying with me is a sign that I am not alone in my daily effort to make certain that my life is truly lived with a belief in what is not seen. It is a community gathered in and because of faith. It is a communal experience that distinguishes us from those who do not have "the eyes to see" the "conviction of things not seen."

In the effort to build a strong faith remember these words from Deuteronomy:

Be strong and steadfast
for the Lord your God is going with you.
He goes before you; there is nothing to fear.