Weekly HOMILY for October 20, 2013: 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle C -- Faith As a Lived Experience

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29^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

Sacred Heart Church, Brevard, NC 28712

October 20, 2013

Faith As a Lived Experience

By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato

 

 

“Will he find faith…?

In today’s Gospel passage Jesus tells his disciples a story about a widow who stands before a judge as a way of modeling for them the perseverance they should have when they are praying.

He gives them this wonderful example of a woman who won’t give up asking of the judge what she wants and needs. He, of course, is indifferent, but after being literally worn down by the woman’s perseverance, gives in and gives her what she is asking for.

But then, after telling the story, Jesus adds a strange line that seems as if he is distracted. He asks, “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find any faith on earth?” 

Huh? How does that statement fit with the story he has just told?

Will There Be Trusting Faith?

                          

A Benedictine abbot and spiritual writer, Jerome Kodell, says that the answer of how the story of the widow and the statement of “God finding faith on earth” depends on what we mean by faith.

Let me explain. When Jesus asks, “Will the Son of Man find faith on the earth?” he does not mean the definition of faith found in The Catechism of the Catholic Faith.

Jesus doesn’t use the widow as an example of one who knows and believes all the teachings of her religion.  Far from it, he uses the woman as an example of one who has a steady trust in God.

She’s an example of those who steadily pray to God and continually center their lives on God. She’s an example of those who trust in God regardless of their personal circumstances.

Often in the Gospels we hear the phrase, “Your faith has saved you.”  Jesus uses the phrase when he is restoring people physically, emotionally, or spiritually.

So when Jesus says, “Your faith has saved you,” he means your persistent, steady attitude of trust – no matter how sinful you think you are, no matter how unworthy you may be – that is what will win you salvation.

The great insight is that it’s not what you believe up here, in your head, as a creed or teaching of the Church that will make the difference. It’s ultimately trusting in the goodness of God, though things are tough or not fully understood.

 

The Profession of Faith Versus an Attitude of Faith

Every Sunday we recite the Profession of Faith, but there could be a danger of professing faith with our lips and not have the underlying, steady, trusting heart faith of the woman in the Gospel.

I would ask, is it not possible to profess faith without having the faith that leads us to turn our lives over to God with real trust in God’s love and goodness? That is the faith that saves you.

This is what Pope Francis is getting at. Rather than hammering away at two or three issues of Catholic teaching, Pope Francis has been focusing more on the love and mercy and goodness of God and on our need to have a trusting relationship with God. 

And isn’t that why Francis is having such great appeal to all people, especially Catholics who feel distanced from the Church? He’s stirring within us a faith that saves!

 

Church as a Big Home

Pope Francis sees the Church as a large home for all and not as a little chapel for an elite few.

He doesn’t want to exclude anyone from the community of the Church for one issue or another.  It sure sounds like Jesus to me!

You won’t find Jesus saying that those who believe this or that in their minds or have it on their lips will be saved.  But those who do good, care for the least and the last and lost, they will be saved.

Jesus lifts up an active faith, a trust in God’s love.  Pope Francis is saying that this is the test of being in God’s family, so we need to welcome and include all who live with this love and trusting faith in their hearts.  

That trusting faith is the basis for oneness with Jesus and with the living Body of Christ, the Church.

We end with the question with which we began: “Will the Son of Man find faith on the earth?”  I believe there is a great amount of it, within the Church, and outside the Church, among those who feel unwelcome.