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

Becoming Our Best Self

Burnand's  The Disciples Peter and John Running to the Tomb

On Thursday, we celebrated the National Day of Prayer.  Rabbi Goldstein, who was wounded at the California synagogue that was recently attacked, shared a message: when we are faced with the darkness of evil, we must counter the darkness with light. The Rabbi pointed to the power of prayer to grow in the light of goodness.

In the Book of Acts, the Sanhedrin or the Jewish supreme court, so to speak, wants the disciples of Jesus to stop proclaiming the good news. But Peter and the other disciples boldly state that they will obey God. God, Peter declares, exalted the crucified Jesus. He is alive, risen, and among us.

The book of Revelation describes a visionary, mystical, heavenly experience in which countless creatures cry out that Jesus, the Lamb slain for us, is worthy to receive power and riches, wisdom and honor, and glory and blessing. The author may be asking us, do we know our purpose in life: to be in relationship with God forever:God abiding in us and we abiding in God.  What an incredible gift to us.

The Gospel highlights a post-resurrection experience at the Galilee shore. Jesus tells the disciples, who had been fishing all night and caught nothing, to cast their nets again. Lo and behold, they make a huge catch. John recognizes the Lord.  So too does Peter, who only recently denied he knew Jesus but then wept bitterly and begged forgiveness for his betrayal.

Peter, aka Simon, became the leader or rock among the disciples,betrayed Jesus three times,  witnessed his resurrection, shouted from the rooftop in Jerusalem that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah, worked signs and wonders, evangelized throughout the eastern Mediterranean, and eventually was martyred in Rome in the 60s. Two New Testament letters are attributed to Peter.

Although Peter often appears impetuous, he always was ready to admit a mistake, to make amends. In the end, Peter became someone you could trust, a man of character. As someone said, “The true measure of character is what you do when nobody’s watching.” Within all of us, there is a tension to choose our better or our worse selves. Catholic Christianity calls this “original sin” or “the fall from grace.”

Many try to explain why people behave the way they do. I prefer to emphasize an informed conscience. Conscience is associated with our feelings—we sometimes feel guilty about things we do or don’t do—yet conscience is more than feelings. Conscience is a power of judgment, our moral compass, so to speak, about the goodness or badness of our behavior and attitudes. Our conscience is a friendly guide in our quest for fulfillment as authentic human beings.

Men and women of character try to be true to their inner best selves: to take a stand on principle and conscience—yes, an informed conscience.

Finally, I like to think that the quality of our life and our soul's destiny will be measured by our character: going the extra mile to help someone in need; living up to our promises; working for the common good; trusting always in a good and compassionate God who is ever near to us and will will bring us into eternal life.