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Homily for the Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
6 October 2013
6 October 2013
I
have to admit that this is the second homily I’ve prepared for this weekend. It’s
not that I didn’t like the first homily, but something struck me as I kept
reflecting on and praying over the passages of Scripture we just heard.
IT’S ALL ABOUT
FAITH.
My brothers and
sisters, we’re nearing the end of this great Year of Faith, which was called
forth by our beloved Pope-Emeritus Benedict XVI. This Year of Faith was called
so that we would be able to make sure that our faith in Jesus Christ would
become the first thing in our lives, that we would deepen our understanding of
our faith, and that we would, ultimately, deepen and renew our relationship
with Jesus Christ.
But have we done
that?
I know that I have
failed in some of the goals that I had set for myself in this Year of Faith. Nevertheless,
I plod ahead, if not trying to attain those goals, at least to set myself up
for their future and ultimate fulfillment. Yet, along the way, I have noticed
that certain unplanned moments in my life have encouraged my faith, or even
have, dare I say, increased my faith.
“Lord, increase our
faith!” is the cry we hear from the Apostles in our Gospel today. And Jesus,
along with the prophet Habakkuk in our first reading, reminds us that with
faith we can do anything, and that great gift of faith leads us to the fullness
of life. This simple, yet intense request of the Apostles is the same simple,
yet intense request that we should be making to the Lord every day.
But are we?
I would like to
believe that for us gathered here today, yes, we are asking the Lord to
increase our faith . . . but we are doing so in an indirect manner. If we’re
doing it this way, then we’re doing it backwards, because we’re presuming that
we have the gift of faith.
Not all of us do.
Faith is a gift
from God. We have to ask for it, which is the easy part, because once we ask
for it, we have to be ready to receive it. And that’s the difficult aspect of
the gift of faith: Once we receive it, we have to do something with it. And
since it doesn’t come already assembled, we have to really work on putting our
gift of faith together.
And that’s where a
lot of people stop.
“It’s too
difficult.” “I don’t understand it.” “There just seems to be so much to it, it’s
overwhelming.” These and other statements have been used so often as excuses
towards knowing our faith, towards living our faith, towards loving our faith,
that people – even people you and I know – simply give up.
My friends,
anything good in our lives is worth working for, is worth striving for. If we
want a good job, then we’re going to have to prepare for it. A doctor is no
good if she doesn’t know human anatomy. A mechanic is no good if he doesn’t
know how a car’s motor works. Respectively, a Christian is no good if he or she
doesn’t know Jesus Christ and how His Church is to work in the world.
How, then, are we to
ask the Lord to increase our faith? Here are three simple, yet important ways:
1. We
simply ask Him for the gift of faith. Our patron, Saint Teresa of Avila,
reminds us: “You pay God a
compliment by asking great things of Him.” The request
to the Lord to increase our faith is a simple request, but it also a great
request, for it fulfills a desire in our heart to come to know our God who
pursues us;
2. We
put into action the advice that Paul gives to Timothy in our Second Reading
today: To “stir into flame” the gifts that God has given to us. We should never
be shy or timid about using those blessings God gives to us, especially the
gift of our faith. Continuing to “stir into flame” those gifts of God will
allow us to not only grow stronger in our faith, but will allow others to see
how our faith in God strengthens us;
3. We
come to learn, love and live our faith. If we don’t know anything about our
faith, or believe that we have learned all that there is to know about our
faith, then we will never be able to love our faith fully. If we cannot fully
love our faith, then it will be impossible for us to live our faith in this world.
And if we cannot live out our faith through the expressions of our thoughts,
words and actions, then we will never be able to see Christ in the other or be
Christ for the other.
To learn, love and
live our faith is the stirring into flame the gifts and blessings God has given
to us. But God cannot give us those gifts unless we ask Him for them.
Brothers and
sisters, in a few minutes we will come forward and receive the Eucharist –
which, in itself, is an act of faith. As we receive the Body, Blood, Soul and
Divinity of Jesus Christ, we place faith in our God that He will heal us,
strengthen us, and enable us to deepen and renew our relationship with our
Savior. This very action is a cry from our souls for the Lord to increase our
faith.
Ultimately, it’s
all about faith. But we need to have the humility to ask the Lord to increase
our faith, the receptivity to accept the gift of faith, and the ability to use
that gift for the further establishment of the Kingdom of God.
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Enjoy the journey . . .
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