Walking by Faith

Imagine the situation in which the Jews who believed that Jesus was/is the Messiah lived. Many were persecuted by their families who believed they were traitors to their ancestral religion.  St. Paul says to the Hebrews, in the first reading of today’s liturgy, “[a]t times you were publicly exposed to abuse and affliction; at other times you associated yourself with those so treated….[D]o not,” he says to them, “throw away your confidence; it will have great recompense. You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what…[God]  has promised.  For, after just a brief moment, he who is to come shall come; he shall not delay”  (Hebrews 10: 32-39).  Jesus says the same to us: “’[D]o not throw away your confidence’  or your faith in Me at work among you and within you. I have planted the Kingdom of God into the soil of this world’s existence, among all peoples of the world, in all circumstances in the world.  The seed of the Kingdom, the seed of holiness and justice, righteousness and goodness will not be suppressed by sin or by the evil that exist in the world. The seed I planted is watered every moment of every day by the water and the blood I poured out on Calvary. You may not realize that the seed I planted is maturing any more than the farmer (See today’s Gospel Mark 4: 26-34) realizes that  the seeds he buried in the earth are germinating. But your faith tells you this is so. Hang on to the faith that your ancestors gave you, especially when it is tried by the “fire” of tribulations and sufferings that are part of your life and was part of mine.”

Bearing good fruit, nourishing our faith

Saturday, September 10, 2011:  Today’s liturgy speaks about a good tree bearing good fruit and a bad tree bearing bad fruit.  In every fruit-bearing tree is a seed: apple, pear, plum, chestnut, apricot, banana, breadfruit, mango, oranges, etc. The fruit does nothing but await the nutrients the tree feeds it: water, sun’s rays, and its own sap or the nutrients from within the tree. Within you and me, a seed was planted by God’s creation of us. We are all created in the image of God. That image grows at its own pace, as does the apple, orange, mango, etc.  Besides the gift of being created in God’s image is the gift of faith given many of us at our baptism.  This seed also grows, if we give it the nourishment  it needs. And it grows, also, at its own pace. My faith today is very different than my faith as a adolescent, for instance.  The question is:  Am I providing the nourishment my faith needs every day to grow into a “strong oak”: prayer, solitude, the sacraments, reflection on the Scriptures, and relating to others in the events of each day in a way that my actions and attitudes are life-giving and flow from the power of the Spirit at the core of my being?