May God augment the quality of your faith and may he make you an instrument of faith-mediation to other people. Happy Sunday! + John I.Okoye
DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Habakkuk 1, 2-3; 2, 2-4; 2 Tim 1, 6-8.13-14; Luke 17, 5-10: 27th Sunday of the Year C 2016)
All the readings of today, in one way or the other, are connected to the theme of faith. Faith is very important, being the foundation of the Christian life. Christian life is received from God through faith. Without faith, there would neither be hope nor charity which is the perfection of the Christian life. For this reason we should be convinced of the extraordinary importance of faith in our lives. Faith has to do with man's relationship with God. It is a theological virtue, meaning that it has its origin from God, himself. It is a free gift from God. The concept of faith in the Hebrew Bible is conveyed by a word whose basic meaning isto be firm, solid and true/genuine. Often the term is predicted of God to mean that God is true, genuine, trustworthy and steadfast (See Psalm 103, 17-18). So, faith is man's relationship of trust in God who is dependable. Faith is man's positive response to God's word of invitation and revelation of his will. Faith is committing one's whole person to God and allowing God to be master of one's life.
The readings of today challenge us to reflect on some aspects of faith. In the first reading, Habakkuk was in the midst of the suffering of his people. There were utter violence, ruin, misery and destruction. He faced strife and discord. It seemed too much for him to bear. He felt the absence of God and God's usual tender solicitude for the covenant people in need. Such absence of God’s presence, as Habakkuk felt, often serve as crucible within which faith is forged and refined. What happened to Amos is the experience of any true disciple of Christ. In our struggle to be faithful disciples, we must frequently endure periods when we feel abandoned by God and when it seems that God has withdrawn his consolation. Such experiences are difficult under any circumstance. In such situations, should we give up, throw in the towel and quit? No! We have to follow Abraham’s, our father in faith, who remained firm in his trust in the steadfastness of God.
As Christians we should be thankful to God for our faith, which we do not merit in anyway. That it is a free gift of God to us, is the meaning of the parable in the second section of today's gospel. The servant in the parable has to work in the farm and, thereafter, has to attend to domestic chores to serve dinner to the master. He is to be thankful after discharging his duties. The disciples of Jesus should expect a similar lot. They have been called to labour and after fulfilling their duties, faithfully, they have only done what is required of them: We are merely servants: we have done no more than our duty. This saying challenges any form of self-adulation based on accomplishment. So, like the unprofitable servant, we do not even earn the faith we have now as baptized Christians. We have no right to claim it as our own. If we are honest to ourselves there are people that are more deserving of faith than we are and more disposed to respond to it as we do. Such thoughts should challenge us to realize that the faith we have is a gift from God. We should always bear in mind that we are the ones to whom faith has been given. And, therefore, we are the ones from whom faithful service will be expected. We will be sent to plow the fields, tend the sheep and be called to serve at table.
In the Old Testament faith has communitarian dimension. Abraham was the father of faith but eventually the communitarian relationship of faith was between God and the elected people of Israel, by virtue of the covenant relationship. People became members of this believing community, not by conversion experience but by being included through birth into the community of Yahweh, the people of God. In the New Testament, inclusion into the community of faith was by conversion. Faith is required if one is to be included into the people of God, the Church, the new community of God. This is the reason of the profession of faith before baptism. Our faith is mediated to us, first of all, through the church and then through our parents who have the principal duty, aided by our sponsors, to lead us to mature faith. Faith comes from hearing and we have heard about Jesus and God from various peoples: our parents, family and friend cycles, teachers and preachers, colleagues at work, etc. Faith comes from God but through the mediation of the community. Timothy received his faith from his mother and grandmother. His faith was strengthened through the imposition of Paul’s hand and through his own preaching of the word of God. Furthermore, what Paul taught him was handed over to him by those who first preached to him. God grants us the gift of faith, but it comes to us through people. There are so many people around us, and even better than us, who have not received this faith because they have not met someone who mediates it to them. Perhaps you will be meeting such people today and at any place. The challenge and duty to mediate faith to them could and should be yours and mine. In today's Eucharistic celebration, may we therefore, pray the good Lord to equip us with all the graces we need to maintain our faith relationship with him in dark moments of our lives, discharge faithfully our services as unprofitable disciples and dispose ourselves to become instruments of faith-mediation to other people. Happy Sunday!
+John I. Okoye
(graphics by chukwubike oc)
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