Maturing in Faith (Wednesday, Week 18, Year II)

-
As gold is tried in fire in order to be purer, so is faith tested in the fire of trials in order to be stronger. We deceive ourselves if we just understand faith as a special gift that we can easily get once and for all. Faith is worked out over time, it is not built in a day. Every trial moment is an opportunity for our faith to come out purer and stronger. At every point in time, our response to trials should be enough to help us know the progress we have made in our journey and maturity in faith.

Israel, having gone through trials and difficulties occasioned by their infidelity and sin, Jeremiah (31:1-7) prophesied that Israel will once more emerge stronger, victorious, healed, restored and at peace with God. Those trials and challenges they had weren't just punitive, they were also formative.

In the Gospel (Matthew 15:21-28), we see a trial of faith. In that very short drama, Jesus made some "discriminatory" utterances in order to feel the faith pulse of the Canaanite woman who may not have clearly known that she was being grilled, tested and formed in faith in the course of that conversation. For many of us, those utterances are enough to dampen our faith and confidence. But for the woman, it was a positive encounter: she saw it as an opportunity to reinforce her faith so that it could shine more brightly. At last, her faith STOOD OUT shining more brightly than ever; and her request was granted.

Let us not be in a hurry to throw in the towel when challenges becoming overwhelming. No trials come our way to crush us. If we can become a bit more positive in our understanding of things, it won't be very hard for us to accept that every trial that comes our way ought to make us stronger. Even if they are PUNITIVE, they can equally be FORMATIVE, forming us for better. But it all depends on our response to them. As gold is tried in fire in order to be purer, so is faith tested in the fire of trials in order to be stronger.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gifts versus the Giver (Monday, Week 20, Year II)

-
Image
A gift, by the virtue of what it is, is given. In other words, there must be a giver. Gift can come or be in the form of a good friendship or relationship, material thing, good job, personal talent, and so on. Every cherished gift is the delight of our eyes, the pride of our power and the desire of our souls. The gifts that we possess should then remind us of the giver. It smacks of arrogance and ingratitude when gifts are used without acknowledging or making reference to the giver. For the Jews, the Temple or Sanctuary was the delight of their eyes, the pride of their power and the desire of their souls. It was a precious gift which they jealously guarded. However, they adorned the Sanctuary but did not truly adore the One for whom the Sanctuary exists. They were too attached to the “gift” (sanctuary) but were completely detached from the Giver of the gift – from Yahweh. Ezekiel prophesied to them that this sanctuary which was their delight will be profaned and taken away from them. M
Read more

Persecution and Triumph, the Two Realities of Christian life (Saturday, Week 33, Year 2, The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary)

-
Image
The book of Revelation is full of symbols and imageries that need to be carefully interpreted for us to understand the message they communicate. In today’s first reading (cf. Rev. 11:4-12), John was told about two olive trees and two lamp stands serving as witnesses to the Holy One. Who or what do these two sets of witnesses (olive trees and lamp stand) stand for? When we read further in order to understand what happened to these two witnesses, it may be a bit clear to us that the “two witnesses” may be pointing to Moses and Elijah, judging from what they did on earth and what they stand for. Moses stands for the Law; and Elijah stands for the Prophet. Anyone who bears witness as Moses bore witness to the Law of God must be persecuted by the beast as the first reading (from the Book of Revelation) recounted. Anyone who bears witness to the messages of truth as Elijah and other prophets did must be persecuted just as the prophets were persecuted. Persecution is a fate that awaits every
Read more

Enkindle the Embers of Unity, Quench the Fire of Disunity (Wednesday, Week 22, Year A)

-
Image
For some time now, we have heard Paul talk about the spiritual and the unspiritual: what it means to live and operate on the level of the Spirit (the spiritual) and on the level of the flesh (the unspiritual). Paul was very emphatic about this topic possibly because he was addressing a group of people who were too intellectual and academic in their approach to the things of God and all of that. Remember that the Corinthians were Greek; and the ancient Greeks were known to be too particular and more interested in intellectualism, sophistry, philosophy and human wisdom. And we must not forget that Paul has been very suspicious of over-reliance on worldly/human wisdom in understanding and appreciating the things of the Spirit. To rely more on human/worldly wisdom is a sign that one may be operating on the level of the flesh; and to operate on the level of the flesh breeds a whole lot of vices such as division or sectionalism, hedonism, and so on. In today’s section of that letter to the C
Read more