With Faith, A reflection for October 14th

With Faith, All Things Are Possible
Reflection For Sunday October 14th
By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFA
Mission Sts. Sergius & Bacchus, Holliston, MA
www.missionstsergius.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EverlastingLoveOfChristMinistry

The Gospel readings from both the Tridentine and Novus Ordo rites for this Sunday contain the same message, “with faith in God, all things are possible”.
Both Gospels tell stories of people being cured because of their faith. In the Gospel from Matthew 4. 46-53 which is the reading for the Tridentine liturgy the story is about the official who came to Christ seeking a cure for his son, and Jesus tells him “Go thy way, thy son lives. The man believed the word which Jesus said to him, and went his way. And as he was going down, his servants met him, and they brought word, saying that his son lived. He asked therefore of them the hour wherein he grew better. And they said to him: Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. The father therefore knew that it was at the same hour that Jesus said to him: Thy son lives; and himself believed, and his whole house.”
The Gospel from Luke 17:11 – 19 is the story of the healing of the lepers and again faith in God is the reason for the cure. “Now on the way to Jerusalem Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered one of the villages, ten lepers came to meet him. They stood some way off and called to him, ‘Jesus! Master! Take pity on us.’ When he saw them he said, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests’. Now as they were going away they were cleansed. Finding himself cured, one of them turned back praising God at the top of his voice and threw himself at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. The man was a Samaritan. These made Jesus say, ‘Were not all ten made clean? The other nine, where are they? It seems that no one has come back to give praise to God, except this foreigner.’ And he said to the man, ‘Stand up and go on your way. Your faith has saved you.”
Why is it that for some it takes a miracle for them to believe in God? Why is it that so many turn to God only when there is a problem in their lives? Far too often in this day and age we only turn to God for help in granting us a special favor and often when it is granted, we forget to give thanks to God and take it for granted that we deserved it. Today, everywhere we look we find people who are striving for material things, for the perfect figure, the perfect home, the classiest car, big fancy houses, the latest electronic gadgets and fashions and more and more money. The Few who have been blessed with an abundance of God’s gifts rarely think of sharing those gifts with the less fortunate or if they do so they need to have public recognition for their acts.
In the United States alone there are thousands who do not have adequate medical assistance, food or shelter. All over the globe people are suffering because of the few who seek to control the many.
Recently when I was attending the orders conclave in Minnesota I became aware of a program sponsored by the Lutheran Church called HOMELESS AND HUNGRY. This program’s purpose is to raise awareness of the plight and struggles of the homeless by having people pledge to fast for 24 hours and live on the street in cardboard boxes like the homeless and to beg for food stuffs and money. Every participant pledges $365.00 each which is the cost of feeding one person each day of the year. The money collected this year reached a staggering total of over $75,000 and more than 5000 pounds of food was collected. Those who participated said they never knew how hard it was for the “Street People” and how they were discriminated against. Many described how they were called names and insulted and some actually described how people would cross the street to avoid being near them. Every week Sister Mary of St. Clare’s convent makes up lunch bags with a sandwich, a fruit drink, raisons, a health bar, and fruit and Brother Michael and one of the faith community there distributes them to those on the streets of Fargo. I went out with them while I was there and was appalled to see mothers with their little children who were living in their car because they could not afford to live elsewhere. What became clearer to me is that we all need to do more to address this despicable condition in the richest country in the world. For this condition to exist is a major blemish on our nations as a whole and especially the political leaders who do nothing to alleviate it.
Having Faith in God is more than saying prayers and attending church but in putting our full trust in God and living according to what God has taught us in the preaching of Jesus Christ. Having Faith in God is not just seeking God’s healing when we are sick but believing that it is possible and also doing those things we need to do to keep ourselves and all God’s children in good health. People can not be healthy if they do not have proper nutrition and medical care. Our Nation has been blessed with an abundance of God’s gifts but at every opportunity there are people who do everything in their power to remove all mention of God in public places.
The ranks of those who claim there is no God is growing at an alarming rate according to the latest statistics.
Without a living faith, a practiced faith, without believing in a supreme being and a loving and merciful God our nation will continue to experience more and more violence and continue to decay just as every great nation before it has that turned away from the basic values found in most religions; the values of peace, brotherhood, compassion, mercy, forgiveness and love for all God’s creation.
As the gospel for today say’s; ‘Were not all ten made clean? The other nine, where are they? It seems that no one has come back to give praise to God, except this foreigner.’ And he said to the man, ‘Stand up and go on your way. Your faith has saved you.”
Without faith and by that I mean a living faith that is more than words but action in our daily lives, how de we expect to be cured of the ills that plague us? How can we expect to overcome the troubles that destroy the lives of so many?
The time is now for us to turn back to God, to ask God for His healing graces, to begin to live our lives in accordance with the teachings we have been given by God and not those imposed by mere humans for the purpose of domination and control.
Only God can judge and determine who is and who is not saved. We who are Christians have been told how God expects us to live and how to attain everlasting life. We will be judged on how well we lived that life in not only word but in our deeds.
Now is the time to turn back to God’s way and not the way of man, for man by nature is flawed and we need God’s guidance and help to overcome our weakness. We need to place our trust and faith in God. When we do, we too will be healed as those in the gospel of today were healed. AMEN
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