THE FAITH THAT WORKS...

HOMILY FOR THE 27^TH SUNDAYOF THE ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

  

The Lord is faithful in all his works and merciful in all his deeds (Psalm 145:13). The steadfastness of the Lord never ceaseth; his mercy never comes to an end. They are new every morning; new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness O lord (2x).

There was a small congregation in the foothills of a particular locality. The congregation had built a new edifice on that piece of land which was willed to them by a church member. Twelve days before the dedication of this church, the building inspector informed the parish priest that the parking lot was inadequate for the size of the building. There was the need of parking lot that would double the size of the new edifice. But there was no space left, safe the mountain against which it has been built. In order to build more parking spaces, the mountain needed to be moved or levelled. Undaunted, the Priest announced the next Sunday morning that he desired to meet all members who had a ‘mountain-moving faith.’ They would hold a prayer session asking God to remove the mountain from the area and to somehow provide enough money to have it paved and marked before the scheduled dedication mass the following week. At the appointed time, few members assembled for the prayer. They prayed for nearly five hours, until the priest said the final ‘Amen.’ He spoke in surety “this church will be dedication on Sunday as scheduled and there will be no obstacle. God has never let us down and I believe this time will not have a different story.”

The next day as he was having his office hours, there came a rough looking construction foreman removing his hard hat as he entered. He said “Excuse me, Fr., I am from Julius Berger Construction Company. We desire to build a huge shopping mall over there and we need some fill dirt. Would you be willing to sell us a chunk of that mountain beside the church? We will pay you for the dirt we remove and pave all the exposed area free of charge, if we can have it right away.” This was very ‘embarrassing’ to the priest as he never knew when tears of joy run down his cheeks. The church was dedicated the next Sunday, the parking lot was spacious, and members with ‘mountain-moving faith’ grew in number. How awesome is our God in His ways. Sometimes he intervenes in ways very foreign to us, with the same solution to the same problem.

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not yet seen (Hebrew 11:1). Faith (or hope) that is seen is not faith (or hope) {cf. Rom. 8:24}. The Christian journey is one of faith, not by mere physical sight (cf. 2 Cor. 5:7). All the three readings of today try to make us understand how important faith can be, and the best way to make it work. In the Gospel Reading (Luke 17:5-10), we see the dialogue of Jesus and his disciples on faith. Jesus shows the disciples that faith is the greatest force in the world. What every disciple on pilgrimage need more than anything else is a deepening faith in the God of Jesus Christ, who can and who will rescue them from opposition and other destructive forces. The example of the Sycamine (mulberry) tree is also quite interesting. It is a relatively large tree with an extensive root system. It would be difficult not only to uproot this tree but also to grow it in deep water. The point here is that genuine faith can bring about quite unexpected things.

The second Reading (2 Tim. 1: 6-8.13-14) brings out all the more the urge to hold firm to our faith. Paul urges Timothy to never slack in the faith and love in Christ Jesus. Faith here has two connotations: 1) it has the idea of fidelity. A Christian must be ever true and loyal to Jesus the Christ. He must never be ashamed to show his identity. 2) it also has the idea of hope. The Christian must never despair, and never lose his confidence in God.

1. Sometimes, even when we claim to have faith, certain experiences comes and leads us into lamentation and cries of help from the Lord. When those helps do not come forth, we tend to be despaired. The story of the First Reading (Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4) challenges such conditions while teaching us great lessons. When the Prophet Habakkuk has lamented about how it seems that the Lord is silent, the Lord assured him that whatever he says, whatever he wills, whatever he desires must surely come to past. God has His appointed time for acting. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay. This implies that it may seem slow in our eyes, but it is not a delay in God’s eyes for God has His time. The righteous shall live by their faith. It is the faith of this recognition that God operates in His own time, and not the time of men. Faith in God should bring an understanding of His character, will and purposes (cf. Heb. 11:3).

2. The faith that works is one that is not pompous. It is one that recognizes that anyone who claim to have faith cannot impose on God his/her intention and expects God to act accordingly. The faith that works is the faith in which man realizes that even in all his righteousness and faith; he regards himself as an unworthy servant. It is a faith that recognizes that having done our duty; the recompense depends totally on God. Our dutifulness does not empower us to lay any claim upon God that we are worthy of His graciousness. That graciousness, favour and blessing is and remains sheer gift. Faith is a free gift (cf. Eph 2:8) Hence, Jesus tries to tell his disciples that even when we have considered ourselves faithful and our faith increased, it is still the grace of God, and must not demand any selfish claim. Faith helps man, not God.

3. The faith that works is that one that shows great fidelity, true loyalty and love to Jesus. It is one that is not ashamed of its faith. It is one that never loses its confidence in the God of Jesus Christ. It never gives up when suffering and tribulation comes. It never seeks the hand of God, but the face of God, knowing richly well that the one who he beholds will extend His hands of assistance to him/her.

4. We have to approach the challenges of life with the saying ‘it must be done’ (just as the priest in our lead story), and not ‘it cannot be done’ or ‘it will not be possible.’ That is when faith becomes the conviction of things not seen. If we take our minds back to the scientific and technological advancements the world has made so far in health, in transportation, in communication, etc., we cannot only but believe that many things that were regarded as impossible are today very possible. When we approach things with great optimism, the chances of getting them done are greater than getting them undone. What more of when we become unshakably aware that God has all powers and one with Him is always a victor/conqueror?

5. The one Catholic and Apostolic continues to make effort to see that the faith of the faithful are fanned into flame following the instruction of Jesus to Peter, who was instructed to confirm his brothers and sisters in the faith (cf. Luke 22:32). Going through recent history line, in 1967, Pope Paul VI had announced a year of faith to commemorate the martyrdom of Saints Peter and Paul on the 19th centenary of their supreme act of witness. To emphasize further on the necessity of faith, there came another announcement (which is still fresh in our minds) of yet another year of faith which began on the 11th day of October, 2012, and ended on the 24th day of October, 2013. Pope Benedict had illustrated for all the faithful the power and beauty of the faith (Benedict XVI, Motu Proprio, Porta Fidei, 2011, no. 4).

There were certain pastoral recommendations for the year of faith by the cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, William Cardinal Levada, on 6 January 2012. These pastoral recommendations were palpably carried out by the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization, whose president, Archbishop Rino Salvatore Fisichella, who worked so hard to see to it that pilgrimages of the different sections of the people of God from different countries of the world were made. We are constantly called to rekindle our faith and never to give up our faith for transient things that do not last. There are three things that last: Faith, Hope and charity (cf. 1 Cor. 13:13). I wish you the light of faith as the new week blossoms. God bless you.