FAITH

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Faith.”

Today’s three readings all mention faith - so the obvious message is to preach about faith.  I’m sure if we could get our hands on every sermon from around the Christian world for this 27^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, year C - it would be, “The priest or the deacon or the minister preached about faith.”

Several large Protestant Congregations have the same readings as Catholics. As least we do that together.

If you talk to your kids or parents in far cities or neighbors or co-workers and they are church goers, ask them, “What was the sermon about on Sunday?”

I’m guessing the answer will be - if remembered, “Faith!”

WHAT TO SAY?

What to say about faith?

I preached at our Kids Mass at 8 o’clock this morning  and I wrote a story for them as I usually do - but for us adults what to say?

In the story of our life as Christians and/or Catholics, what is our story when it comes to our faith?

So I prayed like the apostles in the opening words of today’s gospel, “Increase my faith - I want to preach a homily on faith, Lord.  Help!”

And two things hit me:

First of all: Faith is a gift.

Second: Work on increasing that gift.

There they are - sort of a backwards - or sideways - sort of playing on the Christian struggle about faith and works.

So faith as a gift and faith as something we have to work on increasing and growing in.

FAITH AS A GIFT

“My mom and dad gave me the gift of faith.”

Many of us could say the same thing.

They brought me to church - and they put me in Catholic School.

Their parents and grandparents and great grandparents and back and back and back were Catholics in Ballynahown in Ireland - right on Galway Bay.

Or various people say, "It was my spouse who gave me the gift of faith. I was nothing before I met him or her - or I belonged to another community - and I switched over and became a Catholic because of my spouse."

Our RCIA program for this year for those interested in becoming a Catholic just started a few Wednesday nights ago. I’m sure everyone attending will address this question in their get-togethers.

We get a lot of gifts in a lifetime. We get a bicycle or a teddy bear or an envelope with an Andrew Jackson - a twenty dollar bill - in it - or a ring or a watch or a computer - or a car - or what have you.

Faith is a gift - and like many a gift - sometimes the gift wears out - or goes into the closet or is thrown out or forgotten - so too faith.

The first three weddings in the next generation of my family all have been outside of our religion. That hit me - of course.  I drove up to Connecticut with a Jewish close family friend of my brother here in Maryland for one of those weddings. Marty asked me about my thoughts on the way home. The year before I had gone to a Jewish ceremony for the death of his wife - and I got to do a reading - and then after that burial in a Jewish cemetery  we drove to a nearby Catholic cemetery to say some prayers at my brother’s grave. We're close, so I told Marty - while driving home to Maryland - I was wondering if my faith - my reality as priest - had any reality with those who have dropped out or wherever they are - regards their faith.  I also wondered what their parents thought. At some point I'll ask them.

Faith is a gift.  I have to keep on remembering that - and all the implications of what a gift is.

As priest I’m hoping at every wedding, every baptism, every funeral, every prayer service, every Sunday Mass all of us cherish the gift of faith - if we’ve been given it. Or we all feel God urges.

I’ve heard about 10 people say in the past few years about family members who have stopped going to church, “What are they going to do when times get tough - when hard times are a coming as the old country song puts it? How are they going to deal with life’s problems?”

Of course many folks don’t lose their God connection - even if they have lost or given up on their Church connection.

Of course as priest, I would say that Church helps keep one’s connection with God better than not. And I assume that’s why you are here this evening as well.

So for starters: faith is a gift.

And we pray this evening a prayer of thanks to God and others for giving us this gift - for giving us good example - witness - a deepening of faith.

FAITH AS A RELATIONSHIP TO BE WORKED ON  # 2

And this leads us to our part - in the deal - in the covenant.

As in marriage, as in family, as in any relationship, we need to work on our faith.

Today’s second  reading begins with the image of stirring into flame the gift of God that you have….”  That’s exactly what it says.

We’ve all had the experience of a camp fire or starting a camp fire and we blow on the leaves and the branches and crumbled newspaper we’ve put in with the wood. And when the fire starts to fade - we stir it up again - with a stick and add on some more wood.

It’s same for a fireplace.

So faith demands work on our part.

Faith demands practicing prayer. This week take your rosary and find a quiet place in your house or in your car while driving and say 59 times on the 59 beads, “Lord, increase my faith.” That will take less than 2 minutes.

Faith demands practicing the great commandment to love the Lord our God with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength - and to love our neighbor as ourselves.            

Faith calls us come to church - not just for Mass - but to drop into some church once or week or so and just sit there in the afternoon quiet - and just listen.

Jesus told us that we have an inner room - where he waits for us.

A guy just the other day said, “I used to be an Episcopalian and I became a Catholic because my wife was - and we came here to church together, so I became a Catholic. And I discovered the difference pretty soon: the Catholic Church has that second collection.”

Faith needs humor as well.

Faith needs screams and yelling as well.

Imagine living in Aleppo in Syria?  I’m sure every person there can connect with the today’s first reading - where Habakkuk the prophet screams, “How long, O Lord? I cry for help but you do not listen. I cry out to you, ‘Violence!’ but you do not intervene.”

I’m sure every person who is Muslim is saying similar words from the Koran.

There are still some Christians left in Syria - one of the places of our ancient faith.

But whoever we are - in safe gated communities - in alcoholic families or drug struggling situations - or in family’s with deep marriage problems - or where there is cancer or strokes or dementia - you name it - it’s Bad Friday in that place  - and it can only become Good Friday and Easter in the long run - for those with faith - better to have faith with God - on the Cross in our midst.

The stations on the cross in church are here because they are out there as well.

CONCLUSION

I was looking at an example to close this homily - in case nothing hit home.

I reached for a book of talks and homilies by Bishop Ken Untener and he tells the following moment about himself. [1]

He’s visiting some parish and the pastor  giving our communion next to him was doing something different from him. He says that it wasn’t dramatic - just different.

He said, “Something was going on between the pastor and each communicant. There was a momentary engagement, connection, intersomething-or-other. What he was doing was placing the consecrated bread in their hand, leaving his own hand for a moment to rest there, looking them in the eye as he said, ‘The Body of Christ,’ then attentively receiving their ‘Amen.’”

So he said, he tried it. It took a second longer.

He said a few weeks later while driving, a light bulb in his mind went on.

He realized people actually when saying, “Amen” - were receiving the Risen Lord into their lives.

In saying, “Amen” they were saying in effect, "I'm not perfect, but I really do believe in Jesus Christ , and in all that he taught, and in all that he stood for. I don't claim to understand it all and save have all
the answers. But  I do believe  in this way of life, and from the soles of my feet to the top of my head, I commit myself to walk in his footsteps. I accept the Lord and all that he stands for into my own life.”

When I read that I said I might try that - knowing that some people go crazy with the slow when it comes to Mass. I know I’ve been saying inwardly for 30 or 40 years or so when I’m handing a person communion or putting it in their mouth, “Lord, help this person.” 

Then: I say, "Body of Christ."  

And hopefully they say, "Amen."

OOO + OOO

NOTES

[1] This picture is by Dave Sandford - and you can find it on his web site - entited Lake Erie pictures.

[2 Bishop Ken Untener, The Practical Prophet, Paulist Press, New York, Mahwah, N.J, 2007, pages 97-99.