Abraham is rightly known as the Father of the faith.
Today
we catch a glimpse at a conversation between God and Abram. Here God promises Abram a multitude of
descendants and abundant land. As
a sign for this promise, God asks Abram to count the stars—that is how many
descendants he will have. Abram,
though childless in old age, believes God.
Yet
we must observe one vivid image.
Note—God asks this question during
the day, not at night. Later
in the passage we read, “As
the sun was about to set…” and “When the sun had set and it was dark.” Thus, Abram couldn’t even see the stars when God asked him to count them. And Abraham believed.
Faith
is not believing what makes perfect sense. While faith and reason never contradict and always
complement each other, true faith involves mystery, or truths we might not
first be able to see. Anyone can
believe what they personally think is right, or seems to conform with society. Yet true faith is shown when such personal
obstacles are overcome. Yet like
the stars, which are hidden from our sight during the day, so too is Jesus
Christ always present in our Catholic faith.
To
be honest, I struggle sometimes seeing Jesus in the rubrics of the Missal, or
in the canons in the Code of Canon law.
Yet, like Abram, I must have faith to know he is present.
What are the issues you find
difficult in the Church? Is it a
moral teaching? Something we do at
Mass? What difficulties does your
order face in the world, Church and faith?
Be like Abram, who did not
simply believe in what made sense or what was clearly seen. Be like the Father in faith and trust
in God’s Church even when it is difficult.
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