“He who had received the promises was ready to offer his only son.”
I had not seen a faithful parishioner in Church for many weeks after her daughter had died from a heart attack. She had been very frequent at daily and Sunday Masses before this tragedy. She even served and sang in the choir during many of the weekend Masses. When I asked her about her sudden absence from Mass, she replied with these painful but very familiar words, “I don’t believe anymore. The pain and grief I feel have completely destroyed all my faith in God.” Despite all my attempts to invite her back to a life of faith, I still have not seen her back at Mass.
Why do we give up our faith because of our painful experiences in life? If we are going to hold on to our faith in the face of life’s tragedies, we must remind ourselves of the value and purpose of the faith that we received at Baptism. Faith is not given to us to fix or control our lives or avoid the many tragedies of life. On the contrary, God gives us faith to relate with Him as His beloved children all the time, to receive all that He offers to us, and to respond by giving Him what He asks of us with love.
Let us reflect on the experience of Abraham, our father in faith. By faith, he received and obeyed God’s word to “go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance…, not knowing where he was to go.” It is also by faith that Abraham received the son that God had promised him for many years, “By faith he (Abraham) received power to generate, even though he was past the normal age – and Sarah herself was sterile – for he thought that the one who had made the promise was trustworthy.”
But Abraham’s faith is not just about receiving God’s words and his promises. His faith also allowed him to give to God whatever God asked from him, “By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready to offer his only son.” He was ready to sacrifice his only son because he believed that “God was able to raise him from the dead.” (Heb 11:1-2, 8-19) We see in Abraham a faith that both receives and offers all to God, even an only son that was promised and received from God.
We will surely lose our faith when we see faith as only a means to receiving favorable things in this life or avoiding evils. Thanks to the devastating effect of the pernicious prosperity gospel, many erroneously think that we are the end of faith, that faith is to serve our own purpose in this life. This is why many of us lose our faith because of financial difficulties, health struggles, broken relationships, persecutions and scandals in the Church, personal struggles and hurts, tragedies in our lives and in this world, failures, setbacks, etc.
A faith that depends on our experiences in this life just cannot survive in this life because, as Jesus said, “In this world you will have many tribulations.”(Jn 16:33) We need a faith that allows us to relate with God as our loving Father always and keeps us open to receive the amazing things He desires for us and to give Him whatever He asks from us, beginning with our loving and trusting obedience.
This is why Jesus said to us, “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.” He calls us little flock because He knows how timid we are in the face of the challenges of life. The remedy for all these fears is our faith in the goodness of God, who freely gives us His kingdom along with all that we need to enter this kingdom. He gives us all the encouragement, endurance, hope, wisdom, courage, etc., that we need. But it is only through faith that we can receive these things, give Him what He asks of us, and enter His kingdom.
By faith, we receive the gift of the kingdom and see ourselves as children of God even during present trials. By faith we know the will of God now, even if the trials of life persist or worsen. By faith, we do the will of God till the very end and avoid the destiny of the servant in the Gospel who received a severe beating because he knew the master’s will but did not act according to the master’s will. By faith, we labor and prepare for the glorious return of Jesus.
God has given us the precious gift of our true faith, and we will be held accountable for it, “Much will be required of the person entrusted with much and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.” (Lk 12:32-48) Whatever we face in this life, Jesus still demands that we have His gift of faith alive in us when He returns in His glory, “When the Son of Man returns, will He find faith on earth?”(Lk 18:8)
Jesus is with us today, and He is always doing something, offering us something, and asking us to do something in return and so mature in our faith amid the trials of life. We just cannot use the pains of life as an excuse to abandon our faith. On the contrary, we can always receive and respond to God’s amazing gifts by faith.
Let us reflect on our Blessed Mother Mary at the foot of the cross on Calvary. By faith in the words of the Angel Gabriel, she had conceived Jesus at the Annunciation. She continued to listen to Him as He hung dying on the cross for our salvation, ready to obey His last request to her, “Woman, behold your son… Son, behold your mother.”(Jn 19:26-27) By faith, she also consented to God’s plan and offered her son to God for our salvation. By faith, she waited for His glorious resurrection.
In truth, Mary did not lose her faith at all. On the contrary, she advanced in her pilgrimage of faith during her earthly life, and she can help us to do the same today. That is why she is God’s last gift to us before His death on the cross.
In each Eucharist, we are present at the mystery of faith, where Jesus Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith, comes to meet us in this life of constant trials and testing. He comes to strengthen our faith in Him in the face of all our present trials and fears about the future. If we still lose the gift of our faith for anything, we will also surely lose the gift of His kingdom.
Glory to Jesus!!! Honor to Mary!!!
Heb 11:1-2, 8-19; Lk 12:32-48
Image credit: Laurent de La Hyre, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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About the author:
Fr. Nnamdi Moneme, OMV, is a Roman Catholic priest and religious of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary currently serving in the Philippines. He teaches theology and is a seminary formator for candidates to the priesthood and religious life. Father also gives Ignatian retreats and serves as spiritual director to many of the lay, religious, and clergy in the area.
He earned his first degree in Physics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria. Ordained in 2009, he studied at St. John’s seminary, in Brighton, Massachusetts. Father has an STL/MA in Moral Theology from the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines.
Father Moneme blogs at https://toquenchhisthirst.wordpress.com/.
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