August 7, 2010
Saturday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
The rash man has no integrity; but the just man, because of his faith, shall live. Habakkuk 2:4
Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him, and from that hour the boy was cured. Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said, "Why could we not drive it out?" He said to them, "Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:18-20
Piety
Dear Lord,
…I have to move to a busier place to teach, preach and counsel because it is to that active task that you have called me. But I pray that I will keep you in the center of my thoughts, words and actions. I pray that your presence, which I have sensed so strongly here, will also guide my life…, but most of all I pray that I will keep taking the time to be with you and you alone.
Let the knowledge of your love fill my heart and mind so that I can witness to you freely, openly, and courageously, and bring your peace and your joy to the many [people] who are searching – knowingly and unknowingly – for you. Amen.
Henri J. M. Nouwen, “Saturday, August 11,” from A Cry for Mercy: Prayers from the Genesee (New York: Image Books Doubleday), page 137.
Study
When a speaker wants to get the audience to remember a key point, he or she will repeat it – sometimes more than twice – to drive home that point. What gets repeated must be important. Today’s lesson about the primacy of faith comes up again and again in the Hebrew Bible and in the New Testament.
Jesus wants us to ACT with the FAITH of those he encountered. The faith of the Roman centurion. The faith of the woman at the well. The faith of the woman whose daughter was hemorrhaging. Again and again he says that we must act. With just a little bit of faith, we can move mountains and make the seemingly impossible possible.
For in it is revealed the righteousness of God from faith to faith; as it is written, "The one who is righteous by faith will live." Romans 1:17
And that no one is justified before God by the law is clear, for "the one who is righteous by faith will live." Galatians 3:11
But my just one shall live by faith, and if he draws back I take no pleasure in him." We are not among those who draw back and perish, but among those who have faith and will possess life. Hebrews 10:38-39
In fact, Paul’s Letter to the Hebrews recounts the many deeds throughout Biblical History which were accomplished through the living faith of those throughout time: Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old received divine approval. By faith we understand that the world was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made out of things which do not appear. (Hebrews 11:1-3)
Actions motivated by faith are set off from action which are motivated or compelled by law. Biblical teachings ask each of us to go beyond the mere requirement of law and to act out of faith and love.
Yet faith alone is not always enough. Faith is completed by the good works we accomplish in life. As we learn in the Letter from St. James:
Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works, and the scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness"; and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead. James 2:21-26
Action
The just woman and man, because of her and his faith, shall live. What does your faith inspire you to do today?
Visit the sick?
Call a lonely friend?
Send money to a favorite charity?
Volunteer to help feed the poor?
Become a “Big Brother” or “Big Sister?”
Adopt a stray animal from a shelter?
Send Palanca?
Sing for Mañanita?
Attend the closing?
Sponsor a candidate?
Welcome a new Cursillista to your group reunion?
Live in God’s friendship and service?
