2nd Sunday of Lent 17.3.19 Faith
Faith is the substance of things unseen (cf Heb 11,1). It is
not faith if we can see it.
If we are thirsty and we come across a river, we can see the
river. We do not need faith to believe it is there. But if we cannot see the
river and still believe it is nearby, that is faith at work.
In spiritual terms faith is belief in God and His essential
goodness; a trust that He will always do what is best for us.
There are things we cannot see, and things we have not seen
yet. The future requires a lot of faith – to believe in it, and work towards
it.
God will triumph even though He permits so much evil to go
on in the meantime.
We know a certain number of things, and then we are told
about other things. Starting with what we know, we should be able to believe
what we don’t yet know or fully understand.
God has revealed many things. Some of these things are now
past events; others are still to come. Having seen that God is reliable so far,
it stands to reason He will be faithful in the future. If He has brought us
this far, surely He can take us further, and why not all the way to Heaven?
Faith can be strong or weak. Weak faith changes with the
circumstances of the day. Strong faith goes beyond current circumstances. It is
rock-like in its endurance.
At the Transfiguration Our Lord is helping the apostles to
strengthen their faith, effectively telling them they are going to need all the
faith they can find, because they are going to see Him crucified, and looking
like He is losing the fight - but really He is winning and will emerge in
glory.
We come along later, and we know the story, so we should
have no trouble dealing with suffering and setbacks, should we? Unfortunately,
with the benefit of two thousand years of hindsight we still have trouble
trusting the workings of divine Providence.
The evidence is there, but we have not assimilated it; we
have not made a large enough space in our hearts and minds to take in this
truth.
Calling upon the vast amount of evidence: of the reality of
God, His goodness and truthfulness; and setting that against the doubt, fear
and mockery, we are able to hold firm.
The glory of God is immense. We do not normally see it. We
might have a few moments of ecstasy, but most of the time we are travelling by
faith. There is water over the next sand dune! There is glory coming. It may be
a while yet, but we are part of it and will not miss out.
If we have strong enough faith we can invoke the power of
God to work for good. We can make good things happen, and head off the bad
ones.
We have a say in what happens in the world. We do not just
listen to the news; we make it!
This is quite a power to have.
It helps if there are more people believing and praying, and
persisting in it.
Some miracles take longer than others, but the principle is
there: ask, and you shall receive (Mt 7,7).
We take the chance, on hearing one more time of the
Transfiguration, to draw more deeply from the wells of salvation, and be
refreshed.
May the Lord give us all a strong faith, a lively faith,
that will believe ‘nothing is impossible to God’ (Lk 1,37).
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