Wednesday, December 9, 2009
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Good morning. Father Jim Caldwell Pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Krebs with you to continue our meditation and reflection on preparing our hearts for Christ Jesus to enter and reside. Today’s theme is asking for the gift of faith in prayer.
Yesterday we spoke about the need for prayer in our lives in order to deepen our relationship with God and prepare our hearts. Part of praying to God is asking for the things we need in order to deepen our love for Him. Today’s gift is faith. Why is this gift so important? Without faith, we can do nothing. Without the gift of faith to trust in something greater than ourselves, we miss out on the ministry of service for others. We miss out on growing stronger in our relationship with God and we become sad and depressed.
What is faith? It is our personal devotion to God. It is also a personal and communal relationship with God assenting to the truth that God reveals Himself to us through Sacred Scripture and our lived experience of life and all it offers. Our faith life is both a gift and a grace that brings us into a personal and loving union with God. Faith seeks understanding through reason, is necessary for salvation, is a free act and believes with conviction in a message of truth. According to the Letter to the Hebrews 11:1 the author writes: “Faith is the realization of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen.”
The message of faith as a gift is so important for us today because it is through our faith in God that we can come to know and believe in the power of love He bestows on us. Faith must be communal because we gain knowledge of our faith through interaction with others. This knowledge of faith is passed on to us through our parents. Our faith is mysterious because there is no level or gauge to tell us how much faith we actually have in our hearts. So the faith we believe, share and follow does indeed have intellectual value and weight. Yet the faith we follow also goes beyond our intellectual understanding to move our hearts and souls to act in a manner pleasing to God who is our Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
So we are seeking the gift of faith from God during this season of Advent, of preparation for Jesus to come among us as a Child. We ask God to increase our understanding of faith in Jesus Christ who is the Savior of the world. This is vital to begin our faith journey in appreciating, knowing and serving God who invites us to prepare ourselves for His coming. The question remains is how strong is your faith in God to believe that anything is possible with Him? Jesus reminds us that all we need is faith the size of a mustard seed, and with His help, we are able to conquer anything and everything that comes our way in life.
How do we increase our faith in God? Through our prayer, asking for the grace and gift of faith. We also can increase our faith embracing the faith we have and make it our own. If we are floundering in our spiritual lives, if the world has power over us and drags us down into the abyss of selfishness and it seems we are powerless to change this attitude, then maybe it is time to bend our knees. Maybe it is time to open up Sacred Scripture and read how Abraham, Moses, and all the prophets had to journey from their way and belief to the direction and way God has called them.
One of the greatest gifts of faith is that when we embrace it with our heart, body, mind and soul, we become free. We become motivated; we become aware of just how much God loves us. We also begin to reach outside of ourselves and have the courage to profess and believe in God’s grace to change our stony hearts to hearts on fire for Him. When we live the life of faith, all our thoughts, actions and words point to God. All of who we are is then used by God to challenge and bring others to know, love and serve Him.
We can look to Mary and Joseph again as models of faith for us. In their experience of life and their journey toward Bethlehem, their faith was challenged. Their faith was put to the test because they lived in a world that was reverting back to pagan ways and a system that saw legalism as the proper method of faith. In other words, the faith they embraced was of the Spirit of the Law and not the letter of the Law. The only way this could happen is by God’s grace and assistance from others in their lives that demonstrated their faith and believe in God. While their lives were simple, their faith remains strong in professing and living God’s will in life.
Faith in God is a gift to ask for. It is a gift that calls us to grow in wisdom and knowledge of who God is for us. It also challenges us to look beyond intellect and embrace God’s love in a spirit of humility and service. It is a trust that helps us see how God reveals who He is for us in the whole of our lived experiences of life. It is also an ascent of our will to choose and live this faith in God in our lives. It cannot be forced on us, which is why when we embrace our faith, we are free to love, live and share in the presence of Christ who resides in us. Faith is foundational because it is the key to our obedience of the will of God for us.
It is in faith that we ask God to increase this gift with in us in order to prepare for Christ to come. It is in faith that we trust that while Jesus has come once already as a Man, He comes now to knock on our hearts and live within us. He comes to change our hearts and wants us to be prepared to be changed for the better. In doing so, our hearts and our lives will not rest until they are resting within the heart of Jesus.
Today, let us offer our prayer asking for the gift of faith within our hearts. Let us seek this gift of faith and embrace it as we prepare to welcome Jesus into our hearts. In your moment of silence and prayers, amid the busyness of today, specifically ask God for the Spirit of faith to understand how we can better serve the Lord in thought, work, actions and deeds. Let this faith also increase in us our service to others who are less fortunate than we are.
Let us pray: God, we thank you for the gift of faith that challenges us to grow in holiness. Enkindle this gift in our hearts so we can see that what we do, say and are is truly a reflection of you in us. Help us prepare for your Son to live in our hearts and give us the courage to seek you out and embrace this gift of faith always. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
May Almighty God bless you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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