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27th Sunday of
Ordinary Time, Cycle C
October 6, 2013
St. Mark’s, Fallston
Faith As Dynamic Living
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
The Bedpan and Faith
There is a story
about two nuns who were driving to a nursing home when their car runs out of gas.
Fortunately, the car
rolls to a stop on the side of the road.
One of the nuns is able to walk to a gas station just a block away and
the attendant loans her a gas can.
The nun fills the
can with gas and walks back to the car where she meets her challenge.
She unscrews the cap
of the can and discovers that it is only a cap and there’s no spout. The nuns know that without a spout, they will
spill most of the gas onto the car and into the street.
The other nun gets
an idea. She’s a home nurse and remembers
that she got two brand new bedpans in the trunk of the car.
She quickly unwraps
one of the bedpans, pours some of the gas into it and then starts to pour it
into the car’s tank. As they were doing
this, another car slowly approaches, with parents and children in it.
They move to a
crawl, realize what’s going on, and simply stare in disbelief. The father begins shaking his head in
astonishment saying, “Now, that’s what I call real faith!”
Faith Starts with a Vision
I understand it may
not be a true story, but it’s a great way to understand three things the
scriptures are telling us about faith: (1) It starts with a vision, (2) It
needs stirring up, and (3) It begins small.
The first reading says
that faith must start with a vision.
The prophet Habakkuk
is crying out to God about the harsh circumstances of life, and God responds, “Write
down the vision so that everyone can easily read it. Those who have faith in the vision shall
live.”
So, faith starts
with a vision, especially a vision about God.
Without having a sense of what can be, that is, what’s possible for me
beyond my present situation, it is difficult to hope in things ever changing or
improving.
And it’s that vision
out there that draws and inspires, invigorates and sustains us in the
here-and-now and is our way back to God.
For example, the
vision that strengthens my faith in these days is that while my body is aging,
I can grow in wisdom or as the years pass, I may have less materially, but I’m
becoming more spiritual, or as my world gets smaller, my heart seems to be
growing larger.
So, my faith is
animated by this vision of my life in God.
Faith Needs Stirring up
In the second
reading, St. Paul tells us that faith needs stirring up
He says, “Stir
into flame the gift of God and guard the faith that has been given to you.” Paul
is assuring us that faith has already been given. For our part, it needs to be
stirred and guarded.
When I hear that
quote, the image that comes to mind is that of stirring glowing embers so the
rest of the logs ignite and then guarding the flames from rain and wind by
creating a ring of higher stones around it to help it burning brightly.
By telling us to
“stir into flame,” Paul calls us to keep our faith alive by responding to our
longing for God, by feeding and nurturing it. We can do this by prayer, by
reading Scripture, and by being open to new insights about God and our
relationship with him.
In addition to faith
being stirred, Paul says that it needs to be guarded. So we need to be informed
viewers as TV watchers, moviegoers, and Internet users. We need to know what
boundaries we hold to keep ourselves from addictive or dangerous behavior.
We need to know what
websites are borderline, what movies are seductive and can trigger bad choices
in us, or what is just plain trash. It’s a question of guarding our faith by
not getting entangled or not wasting our time on what isn’t life-giving.
Faith calls us to
draw close to some things and keeping away from others.
Faith Starts Small
Finally, today’s Gospel tells us that faith has to start
small.
Jesus says to the
apostles, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could move
mountains.” Jesus’ point is that faith is not an
issue of spectacular beginnings, but little things like a mustard seed.
We can bring about big
tree changes through little mustard seed efforts in our homes and our world if
we just live the smallest act of faith, no matter how tiny or insignificant we
believe it may be.
So we start at home
with a small complimentary remark to my spouse, son or daughter.
We move to work or
school with an acknowledgement of the good someone’s done.
Now the wheel is
turning and we move to issues in the news and speaking constructively and less
judgmentally of others in our circles of neighbors or friends
Conclusion
So what makes for a faith
that is dynamic living?
(1) Keep a vision before our eyes
(2) Make a real commitment to stir up the faith I have
(3) Look for little places to practice random acts of kindness
The faith you will
experience will be dynamic and satisfying.
