In today's Gospel, Matthew 8: 23-27, Jesus gets into a boat with his disciples "and suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by waves; but [Jesus] is asleep." Terrified for their lives, the disciples awaken Jesus. "Lord, save us! We are perishing!" Jesus calmly says to them: "Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?" Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm."
Right now, we are dealing with a violent storm, the coronavirus sweeping the country. Thousands are dying across the country every day. Our hospitals in some States are reaching their capacity. ICU beds are at a premium. Healthcare workers are stretched to the breaking point. Last night news claimed that we are at a very dangerous point in dealing with this pandemic. Another news this week stated that the virus is out of control in this country! Also, foreign countries have banned anyone from our country to travel to theirs. "Lord, save us! We are perishing!" Jesus asks to us: "Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?" With the psalmist in today's responsorial psalm, we expectantly bring our plea for the end of this virus to the Lord.
We know that God can, at any point in this horrible experience, get up, rebuke the virus, and save us from further attack! However, we also need to realize that, I think, God expects us to do our part to stop its spread and not expect God to miraculously destroy a virus whose spread we are not willing to stop by appropriate measures within our power! Let us not put God to the test because we are unwilling to discipline ourselves!
Do the harsh words in today's first reading, Amos 3: 1-8; 4: 11-12, apply to us? Yahweh says to the Israelites: "I brought upon you such upheaval as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah: you were like a brand plucked from the fire; yet you returned not to me, says the Lord."
Showing posts with label Weak Faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weak Faith. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 30, 2020
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
The Firmness and the Power of Faith in God
In today's first reading, Isaiah 7:1-9, Ahaz, king of Judah is terrified of Assyria, a threat to all of the Middle East in his time. The Lord God aware of the King's terror, instructs Isaiah to go out and meet Ahaz and say to him: "Take care you remain tranquil and do not fear; let not your courage fail before these two stumps of smoldering brands the blazing anger of Rezin and the Arameans, and of the son of Remaliah, because of ...the plots against you, saying, 'Let us go up and tear Judah asunder, make it our own by force...." However, rather than relying on the invisible God whose presence cannot be seen with the naked eye, King Ahaz relies on the power of the Assyrian army and joins them. The Lord God says to King Ahaz through the prophet Isaiah: "Unless your faith is firm you shall not be firm!" Faithless, "the heart of the king and the heart of the people trembled [before the threat before them], as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind."
What causes you to tremble as you listen to the news each night, as you see violence erupting in our streets and throughout the world, as you watch the stock markets rise and fall, as you listen to our politicians? What is threatening to you? How firm are you? In what do you have faith? External forces: the military? a person who promises to "save" you, to empower you? a position that promises you security? some earthly, material-bound, consumer-purchased entity? Any of these can give you a sense of security and are not bad in and of themselves. It is our total reliance upon them as though they truly have the power to save us. When we give any of these sources God-like powers and "worship" them in place of the Eternal One, we are in trouble, as was King Ahaz.
May you, through prayer and worship,through love and justice, through forgiveness and repentance, through a life of integrity and honesty, through self-sacrifice for the common good, anchor your faith in the invisible God: the God of Isaac and Rebecca; Jacob, Leah and Rachel; Abraham and Sarah, Mary and Joseph; the God revealed to us by Jesus Christ, the Son of the Most High God. "Unless your faith is firm," God says to us through the prophet Isaiah, "you shall not be firm! (Is 7:9).
What causes you to tremble as you listen to the news each night, as you see violence erupting in our streets and throughout the world, as you watch the stock markets rise and fall, as you listen to our politicians? What is threatening to you? How firm are you? In what do you have faith? External forces: the military? a person who promises to "save" you, to empower you? a position that promises you security? some earthly, material-bound, consumer-purchased entity? Any of these can give you a sense of security and are not bad in and of themselves. It is our total reliance upon them as though they truly have the power to save us. When we give any of these sources God-like powers and "worship" them in place of the Eternal One, we are in trouble, as was King Ahaz.
May you, through prayer and worship,through love and justice, through forgiveness and repentance, through a life of integrity and honesty, through self-sacrifice for the common good, anchor your faith in the invisible God: the God of Isaac and Rebecca; Jacob, Leah and Rachel; Abraham and Sarah, Mary and Joseph; the God revealed to us by Jesus Christ, the Son of the Most High God. "Unless your faith is firm," God says to us through the prophet Isaiah, "you shall not be firm! (Is 7:9).
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