First Reading, Wisdom 18:6-9
Second Reading, Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19
For the human will, faith is the glue that holds everything together. No matter what happens to us in this life, our faith holds firm the belief of a revealed but absent end as well as a future with a new beginning in eternity. There are some biblical examples of faith in this Reading. It is faith that the saints held fast to that has led us to honor them. Let's not forget the Virgin Mary's leap of faith that brought about the radical change in her life which made her the Mother of God. Her leap of faith also changed our lives radically. Yes or so be it are appropriate synonyms for faith. Our Lady said yes; Noah said yes; Abraham said yes; Moses said yes; Peter said yes; Paul said yes; all the saints said yes. They all said: Yes, I will do what You ask of me Lord. Yes I believe in You and I trust You; so be it, so be it, so be it! This Reading reveals that Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac -- even though God promised descendants from Isaac -- because Abraham was committed to a personal faith that believed God would somehow be able to raise Isaac from the dead. Therefore, Abraham said yes. He didn't try to apply logic and figure out how descendants could possibly come from Isaac if he was about to be sacrificed. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that Abraham, because he was strong in faith, became the father of all who believe (cf. CCC 146). The Catechism goes on to add that from God we have received the grace of believing in His Son Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith (cf. CCC 147). Faith is a gift from the Almighty. It is faith that leads us to our church doors on Sunday. Sometimes it's good to sit back and reflect on the week that just passed. Consider the times you exercised your faith. It's good to do this because so often we use our faith without realizing it. What did you do this past week that required faith? What decisions did you make that required a leap of faith? When you wake up, for example, you have no idea what surprises are waiting for you that could disrupt what you already had planned for that day. Without even realizing it, our day begins with us exercising our faith because we're confident that God will get us through the bumpy road that may lie ahead. We depend on God for so many things and we trust in Him for so many things and yet it is not often in our recollections. All the money in the world can't buy fruits and vegetables if God doesn't first command the seed to grow. By faith this truth is known but seldom, if ever, acknowledged. In the Church's Night Prayer (Compline) we read from Psalm 4: As soon as I lie down, I fall peacefully asleep, for you alone, O Lord, bring security to my dwelling (Psalm 4:9). The thought of not being under God's watchful and loving Eyes is rarely ever considered it doesn't really occupy the human mind unless one is faced with something that is life threatening. It is quite common in the Christian East to pray the Jesus Prayer. A simplified version of this is to pray the Name of Jesus through the rhythm of one's breathing pattern. This not only thwarts off evil because of the powerful Name of Jesus but also is a reminder that God is responsible for each breath we take. If the Almighty turned away His gaze from us for one millisecond, we would cease to exist. Jesus, because He is God, is the only independent Being that has ever walked the earth. In His Human Nature, however, He exercised dependency on the Father to teach us how much we need God.
Gospel, Saint Luke 12:32-48
The words gird your loins are familiar to the ancient East. It was their practice to gird up their long garments when they were about to get down to business. And so, what Jesus is saying here is to be ready for His return. In other words, when He returns, will He find us in a state of grace, labouring for the Kingdom, or will He find us drunk, a metaphor for living according to one's own design and not accepting or living out the dignity of a child of God. Both Saint Gregory and Saint Thomas Aquinas explain the watches as such: The first watch is childhood, the beginning of our existence. The second watch is adulthood, and the third watch is referring to old age. Realistically, being prepared for our Saviours Second Coming is only part of the story. As a result of our own death, we could meet our Lord face-to-Face before His literal Second Coming. And like the Second Coming, when our time of death will occur is a mystery; therefore, always being prepared is the key. The Catechism explains: Everyone is called to enter the Kingdom. First announced to the children of Israel, this Messianic Kingdom is intended to accept men of all nations. To enter it, one must first accept Jesus' word. This Kingdom shines out before men in the word, in the works and in the presence of Christ. To welcome Jesus' word is to welcome the Kingdom itself. The seed and beginning of the Kingdom are the little flock of those whom Jesus came to gather around Him, the flock whose Shepherd He is. They form Jesus' true family. He urges us to vigilance of the heart in communion with His own. Vigilance is custody of the heart. The Holy Spirit constantly seeks to awaken us to keep watch. This petition takes on all its dramatic meaning in relation to the last temptation of our earthly battle; it asks for final perseverance (CCC 543, 764, 2849). Saint Paul is a marvellous example of a heart that was formerly unprepared, and then after his conversion he used every ounce of his strength to prepare the hearts of others. And after his conversion, he had many things happen to him that could easily have convinced him to give up the good fight. Instead his lamp was always shining brightly, prepared to welcome his Master. In his Second Letter to the Corinthians he writes: We do not lose heart, because our inner being is renewed each day even though our body is being destroyed at the same time. The present burden of our trial is light enough, and earns for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. We do not fix our gaze on what is seen but on what is unseen. What is seen is transitory; what is unseen lasts forever (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). Saint Paul points out that the present burden of our trial is light enough; therefore, by fixing our gaze on the unseen we are not running away from the culture -- instead we're bringing heaven's point of view to the culture.