{"id":428,"date":"2013-10-20T15:26:38","date_gmt":"2013-10-20T20:26:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/?p=428"},"modified":"2013-10-29T15:28:53","modified_gmt":"2013-10-29T20:28:53","slug":"believing-in-our-hearts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/?p=428","title":{"rendered":"Believing in our Hearts"},"content":{"rendered":"

29th<\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time<\/h2>\n

Ex 17:8-13; 2 Tim 3: 14 \u2013 4:2; Luke 18: 1-8<\/h2>\n

Dc. Larry Brockman<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Faith!\u00a0 Faith is what all of us need to survive as Christians.\u00a0 Faith is what will sustain us in times of trouble.\u00a0 This morning, our readings are all about Faith.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Now some people confuse Faith with knowing all about what we are supposed to believe about God.\u00a0 Indeed, we speak of our \u201cFaith\u201d as Christians and Catholics in terms of what we believe.\u00a0 But the real essence of Faith is something that is a lot deeper than that.\u00a0 Faith in God, first of all, is really all about our ability to believe what we cannot prove about God.\u00a0 Things like the certainty of the existence of God; the truth of the Trinity; the incarnation, or God becoming man in the person of Jesus; the mystery of how Christ being Crucified could ransom us from our sins; the Resurrection of Jesus from the Dead; and Eternal Life in the Kingdom of God.\u00a0 We need to know all about these things, and we learn them from scripture and the Church, but we need to believe in them despite the fact that they can\u2019t be proven using human reasoning.\u00a0 That is the first part of real Faith.<\/p>\n

And then secondly, we need to show that we really do believe in them. \u00a0That means more than just accepting them with a nod.\u00a0 It means living our life according to the pattern that Jesus set for us in the Gospel because that\u2019s how he promised us a ticket to everlasting life.\u00a0 It does no good to give assent to something with our lips, but not with our hearts and minds and bodies.\u00a0 If we really have Faith, then we will be engaged in showing it.<\/p>\n

Listen again to what Paul tells Timothy in the second reading:\u00a0 He says: \u201cI charge you in the presence of God and of Jesus Christ . . . to proclaim the word, be persistent, whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching\u201d.\u00a0 That\u2019s what it means to live your Faith.\u00a0 To proclaim God\u2019s word whenever and wherever it is needed, whether it is convenient or inconvenient; and to minister to others by convincing them, reprimanding them, and encouraging them.<\/p>\n

When you were Baptized, you were welcomed into the Church.\u00a0 And at that time, you made a Baptismal promise.\u00a0 For most of us, that promise was made on our behalf by our Parents and Godparents.\u00a0 Basically, that promise consisted of learning your Faith and living it out by evangelizing to others in word and deed; by spreading your zeal and commitment to the Faith.\u00a0 Yes, all of us were called in Baptism to go forth and teach all nations in our Faith so that all could share in everlasting life in Heaven.<\/p>\n

When you are confirmed, you are confirming your commitment to the promise that was made on your behalf at Baptism.\u00a0 So, you see, your life as a Christian just begins with Confirmation; it doesn\u2019t end with Confirmation.\u00a0 Your commitment means you will continue to grow in knowledge of your faith and in your ability to live that Faith with resolve and conviction.<\/p>\n

Now in today\u2019s first reading, we have a very interesting story about real Faith.\u00a0 Moses believes that he has been given special powers by God through his staff.\u00a0 And so, he believes that if he can hold that staff up during battle for all to see- that staff, which is a symbol of Faith in Israel- then no matter how bad the situation is with the enemy Amelek, his people will be saved. \u00a0\u00a0But when his resolve and that of his helpers Aaron and Hur, waivers just a little bit, and the staff somehow gets lowered, then Amelek begins to prevail over the Israelis.\u00a0 So, Moses, Aaron and Hur redouble their efforts to keep that staff held high no matter how tired they get.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a very subtle distinction to be made here.\u00a0 You see, it isn\u2019t the staff itself that was so important.\u00a0 The staff was just a symbol of the power of God.\u00a0 Rather, it was their belief that the power of God was with them.\u00a0 And they had to continuously demonstrate their Faith in the power of God in order for their Faith to sustain them.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the same way with us.\u00a0 Our Faith needs to be strong and continuous.\u00a0 We can have all the knowledge of our Faith down pat, so much so that we can recall it at any time.\u00a0 But if we set it down and to the side by saying to ourselves \u201cWell let\u2019s get on with life, and when I need God, I will recall what I have been taught\u201d,. meaning, let me pursue my own agenda for life without regard to how my partnership with God is affected, then we cannot expect our faith to sustain us.\u00a0 If we really believe it, we will live our Faith to the fullest, always holding it in our hearts and consulting God about everything we do in life.\u00a0 Because it is then that our Faith will always sustain us.<\/p>\n

The message in the Gospel confirms this about our Faith.\u00a0 The persistent Widow is just that relentless and persistent in appealing to the judge.\u00a0 And as corrupt as the judge was, he responded to that commitment and tenaciousness.\u00a0 Our ever-loving God will certainly do as much and more.\u00a0 And so, that\u2019s how our Faith can sustain us- through an absolute commitment to it. \u00a0Through a persistent and consistent never ending partnership with God, continuous prayer and demonstration of our Faith, we can and will be shown the way even when the going gets tough.\u00a0 It may not be the way we would like, but the way will be shown to us, God\u2019s way.\u00a0 But it takes real Faith, the Faith of a Confirmed Christian to guarantee our success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time Ex 17:8-13; 2 Tim 3: 14 \u2013 4:2; Luke 18: 1-8 Dc. Larry Brockman   Faith!\u00a0 Faith is what all of us need to survive as Christians.\u00a0 Faith is what will sustain us in times of trouble.\u00a0 This morning, our readings are all about Faith.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Now some people confuse Faith […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[246,247],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=428"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":429,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428\/revisions\/429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}