Great is Your Faith

Jesus and the Canaanite Woman

 In the Gospel according to Matthew, an assertive mother from Canaan seeks out Jesus. She wants her daughter healed and she'll do whatever it takes. This Gentile woman begs Jesus to heal her demon-afflicted daughter. 

At first Jesus seems to treat this mother harshly. Then the mother utters a prayer: “Lord, help me.” Jesus replies: “Great is your faith. Let it be done for you as you wish.” And the daughter was healed. 

This faith-filled woman segues into the many heroes and heroines in Christianity who can coach us about our spiritual life. St. Augustine, whose feast day we celebrate this month, is one of these many heroes. After many detours in his life he met Ambrose, bishop of Milan, whose persuasive homilies led Augustine to focus on the direction of his life. 

Augustine went into his garden and just sat. He heard a voice say, “Take and read, take and read.” He picked up the Bible. His autobiography, Confessions, notes: “I seized, opened, and in silence read that section on which my eyes first fell: ‘Put on the Lord Jesus Christ...' instantly... all the darkness of doubt vanished.” 

Augustine found his purpose in life. “God, you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” That’s our purpose too:  be in relationship with God.

A question that haunted Augustine his entire life, even as he pursued a relationship with God was the problem of evil. How can I have a relationship with a supposedly all-good God when there's such incredible human suffering. The universe, the work of God, he came to believe, is essentially good. A provident God guides this universe to the fullness of the kingdom at the end time. The disciples of Jesus throughout the ages, the one Church, is holy, yet it’s made up of saints and sinners. 

Human beings need God's grace to live the kind of life God wants them to live. But some people choose evil over good, falsehood over truth. Why? Because there's a tendency or pull to choose our worse rather than our better selves. Augustine called this “original sin.” Human beings had fallen from grace and cry out for salvation.

Augustine praised an all-good God who became “one of us” in Jesus so that all who believe in hime might have eternal life. This Jesus Christ is alive by the power of the Spirit.  By God's grace, Augustine argued, humans are in relationship with God but still must struggle to choose right over wrong.

The quality of our life and our soul’s destiny ultimately will be measured by our character: going the extra mile; being faithful in our relationships and responsibilities; and trusting always in an all-good and compassionate God who is ever near and who will guide us safely to our heavenly dwelling place

The Purpose of my Life

Rublev's Icon of the Trinity

Happy Fathers Day! The word “father” or “dad” evokes various images and traits. I think of qualities my father possessed in abundance (qualities all good fathers possess): Love, commitment, communication, spirituality. We spent time together. And my father had a good sense of humor.

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, the feast of the triune God, the fundamental and distinctive truth of Christianity. We begin every liturgy “In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” and are sent forth at the end with the blessing of the “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”

Now when we hear the word “God,” what images do we think of? The Bible gives us many. A walking companion. As loving as a mother. A God who wants to share his wisdom with us. The parables of the good shepherd and the prodigal son are balanced with the parable of the last judgment.

The images cannot capture fully the inexhaustible reality of God.

And no human relationship can completely satisfy us. St. Augustine wrote, “Thou hast made us for Yourself, O God, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in You.” Yes, we were born to live in relationship with God -- the triune God.

The book of Proverbs personifies wisdom as a woman, as creative energy, as a playful companion of God who witnesses the mighty acts of God. The early Christians saw Jesus in this wisdom image, God’s Word made flesh among us. St. Paul waxes eloquently about the saving work of Jesus Christ. Through him we have a right relationship with God.

In the Gospel, Jesus alludes to the mystery of the triune God: The Spirit that comes through Jesus and the Father will guide us into all truth.

The mystery of the triune God (one yet distinctive in modalities or movements of "persons"--Father, Son, and Spirit--none is the “other”; a God who is love) invites us to reflect upon our relationship with God and one another.

We are forever trying to make better sense out of our lives. Especially in moments of crisis, people often ask fundamental questions: What is the purpose of my life? Where is my life going? Through the cycle of our own human development, at times, we wonder. We accomplished so little, and now it is almost over. What was it all about? Life seems marred by too many tragedies.

We also have awesome experiences. A starry sky, the joy of friendship, the golden rays of a sunrise or sunset, the accomplishment of a goal. Such experiences can take us out of ourselves and into the presence of an awesome power. We begin to experience the transcendent dimension of our lives.
Yes, a purposeful and gracious God is responsible for this magnificent universe and for our very lives. Yes, this God became flesh in Jesus and is alive among us by the power of the Spirit.

This triune God, the model of self-giving love, empowers us to reach out in love to one another with compassion, forgiveness, a ready smile, a kind word, a helping hand.  And in reaching out in love, we become like the triune God in self-giving love.

Pray for the grace today, to quote the musical Godspell, to see God more clearly, love God more dearly and follow God more nearly in our daily lives. Amen.