(The weekend reflection is posted early because this blogger with be away overnight celebrating my "oldest" brother's 65 birthday, returning tomorrow in time for a meeting and then Saturday confessions and the vigil Mass where he assists. The reflection for Friday follow just beneath this entry.)
Faith! What is this reality we call faith? One prominent preacher of the 20th century once described faith not as something we get. It is, rather, something that we have. Perhaps it is this differentiation that makes faith somewhat confusing in our lives.
In the first reading from Habakkuk, we hear a frustrated man describe his and the peoples’ faith as withered, dormant and shrived. Ultimately he comes to recognize faith as “the God-breathed nature of being a human being. We don’t get it. We have it within us because of God’s creative act.
In the second reading, Paul writes to Timothy about his faith as “a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you.” Faith is something Timothy had, something inherited from him parents and grandparents.
So, it is not unexpected that the disciples who had been following Jesus for some time would say to him “Increase our faith.” It was not a request for faith but rather a petition for an increase of faith, a deeper understanding of what faith is.
Now let’s consider what Jesus said in reply. He likens faith to a mustard seed to teach that even the smallest amount of faith can do wonders. That said, however, it is interesting that Jesus uses what truly is a strange image. If you have faith, you can order that mulberry tree that you see there to be uprooted and replanted on the bottom of the sea. Now stop for a moment. How long would a mulberry tree last, planted on the bottom of the sea? Before long it would, you might say, drown!
Jesus is teaching the disciples that faith is not like a magic show. Tap the talk black hat with a small baton and “Poof,” out comes a rabbit. Wizardry is not what Jesus is teaching. Rather, he is trying to teach that faith is a reality in each person and when it is called upon we draw remarkable power from it.
Some scripture scholars describe faith as a birthright. As a human being made in the image and likeness of God, having within us the very being of God is to be one of God’s creatures with a characteristic faith. Take examples of our different kinds of faith: (1) taking that first step as a child into the awaiting arms of a proud parent; (2) putting your feet on the floor first thing in the morning, trusting that the sun is or soon will be bringing warmth to our part of the world; (3) exhausted and unemployed parents believing their search efforts for a job will be fulfilled; and (4) the confidence that a patient has in his/her surgeon as conscious awareness fades away into sleep on an operating table. Faith can be found in so many places of our lives. It is a birthright.
Faith, when considered carefully and prayerfully, can be likened to the smallest particle of nature which explodes into a reality so many times larger and providing so much for others. Imagine the power of even the slightest wind that propels the blades of a windmill that lights an entire city.
We get our faith from our birthright but also from others whose lives have become that tiny atom that stirs us to greatness. We just have to stop and look around us. Countless are the resources that increase our faith, the faith that was ours at our birth. It is when we embrace our faith and strive to make it a constant mindfulness in our minds and heart that we experience a genuine spirituality that can change our lives to greatness.
Yours is the gift of faith. Embrace it. Learn how to let it grow not at the bottom of a sea but in your heart. Make it the operative force within your mind and heart. Like the disciples, every day, ask your God to “increase your faith,” your faith in his Son, Jesus Christ, our savior and our God. Likewise ask God to increase your faith in YOURSELF because you are one who through your Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist accept and proclaim your intention to be his follower. He is the source of life, the life that increases your faith, that gives you the power to be the marvelous creature he has given to the world.
Faith! What is this reality we call faith? One prominent preacher of the 20th century once described faith not as something we get. It is, rather, something that we have. Perhaps it is this differentiation that makes faith somewhat confusing in our lives.
In the first reading from Habakkuk, we hear a frustrated man describe his and the peoples’ faith as withered, dormant and shrived. Ultimately he comes to recognize faith as “the God-breathed nature of being a human being. We don’t get it. We have it within us because of God’s creative act.
In the second reading, Paul writes to Timothy about his faith as “a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you.” Faith is something Timothy had, something inherited from him parents and grandparents.
So, it is not unexpected that the disciples who had been following Jesus for some time would say to him “Increase our faith.” It was not a request for faith but rather a petition for an increase of faith, a deeper understanding of what faith is.
Now let’s consider what Jesus said in reply. He likens faith to a mustard seed to teach that even the smallest amount of faith can do wonders. That said, however, it is interesting that Jesus uses what truly is a strange image. If you have faith, you can order that mulberry tree that you see there to be uprooted and replanted on the bottom of the sea. Now stop for a moment. How long would a mulberry tree last, planted on the bottom of the sea? Before long it would, you might say, drown!
Jesus is teaching the disciples that faith is not like a magic show. Tap the talk black hat with a small baton and “Poof,” out comes a rabbit. Wizardry is not what Jesus is teaching. Rather, he is trying to teach that faith is a reality in each person and when it is called upon we draw remarkable power from it.
Some scripture scholars describe faith as a birthright. As a human being made in the image and likeness of God, having within us the very being of God is to be one of God’s creatures with a characteristic faith. Take examples of our different kinds of faith: (1) taking that first step as a child into the awaiting arms of a proud parent; (2) putting your feet on the floor first thing in the morning, trusting that the sun is or soon will be bringing warmth to our part of the world; (3) exhausted and unemployed parents believing their search efforts for a job will be fulfilled; and (4) the confidence that a patient has in his/her surgeon as conscious awareness fades away into sleep on an operating table. Faith can be found in so many places of our lives. It is a birthright.
Faith, when considered carefully and prayerfully, can be likened to the smallest particle of nature which explodes into a reality so many times larger and providing so much for others. Imagine the power of even the slightest wind that propels the blades of a windmill that lights an entire city.
We get our faith from our birthright but also from others whose lives have become that tiny atom that stirs us to greatness. We just have to stop and look around us. Countless are the resources that increase our faith, the faith that was ours at our birth. It is when we embrace our faith and strive to make it a constant mindfulness in our minds and heart that we experience a genuine spirituality that can change our lives to greatness.
Yours is the gift of faith. Embrace it. Learn how to let it grow not at the bottom of a sea but in your heart. Make it the operative force within your mind and heart. Like the disciples, every day, ask your God to “increase your faith,” your faith in his Son, Jesus Christ, our savior and our God. Likewise ask God to increase your faith in YOURSELF because you are one who through your Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist accept and proclaim your intention to be his follower. He is the source of life, the life that increases your faith, that gives you the power to be the marvelous creature he has given to the world.
