Nineteenth Sunday of Year C
Living a Faith Filled Life Always!
Fr. Udoekpo, Michael Ufok
§ Wisdom 18:6-9
§ Ps 33:1, 12, 18-22
§ Heb 11:1-2, 8-19
§ Luke 12: 32-48
Last two Sundays Jesus taught us not only how to pray but
how not to be greedy and selfish. This Sunday he teaches us how to be
consistently vigilance in our faith, hope and trust in our loving and merciful
God, no matter what. Faith, we would remember, as we were taught in our
catechism is the supernatural gift of God, which enables us to believe and hope
for all the good things God has promised us in this life and in the life to
come… without doubting. Faith, whatever you call it in your language, is a
realization of what is hoped for and evidence of all things that we cannot see
as humans. The readings of today are very clear on this.
The 1st reading (Wis 18:6-9) reminds us
that the night and the liturgy of the Passover must consistently be
a reminder to us that God accompanies us today on our
journeys, as he would have accompanied our forefathers in the desert, thousands
of years ago. He freed them from the hands of Pharaoh, their enemy; saw them
through the red sea. And provided food and drinks for them. This is the same
God we must believe and vigilantly trust in our times as we travel our
pilgrimage of faith.
The 2nd
reading, from the Letter to the Hebrews Chapter 11, is even much clearer. It speaks of the
faith of Abraham, “our father in faith,” as recorded in Genesis 12. Abraham
left everything behind in Mesopotamia and followed God- journeying to the
Promised with faith and trust in God as his “GPS.” In his ups and downs,
threats and dangers, Abraham and his household simply trusted God. In his
“foolishness,” uncertainties, conflicts, wars, hunger, sickness, good health
Abraham and his household placed their faith in God. The faith of Abraham is
not outdated. Abraham is our model in faith. Each of is called today to imitate
the faith of Abraham in all circumstances, it doesn’t matter which political
party you belong or what language you speak, or what type of academic degrees you
have. Faith is a treasure. The colors of your skin or eyes does not
matter. Constant and active faith in God is what matters.
Today’s Gospel of
Luke speaks of this important matter still--- constancy and vigilance in
trusting God- in the parable of the good and faithful servant versus the
foolish or the imprudent ones. When the master was away the foolish servants
misbehaved and turned the house upside down while the faith faithful ones gird
their loins and awaits their master return from the wedding ceremony.
We are called to
be those prudent and faithful servants. Vigilance in faith and in our
prayer lives, acts of charity, corporal and spiritual works of mercy[-
especially in this Year of Mercy!]. Christ invites us today to constantly
translate our faith into actions- do good things, forgive, love, share your
blessings with others, as if today were to be your last day on earth.
There is an
anecdote about 3 young college students who were asked what they would do if
they received a sudden text message in their phone that the world was coming to
an end in less than 12 hours. The 1st student said he/she would run
home and say good bye to his parents and siblings. The second said she would
run rum to finish her remaining ice cream in left in the refrigerator. The
third simply said he will keep doing well, keep busy in what he was doing.
This third
response rhymes with the response given by St. Francis many years ago. While
tilling the farm was asked what he will do if the world was coming to an end
now. Francis, we are told, said he will keep tilling the farm.
We must carry our
faith with us, in bad times and in good times, while riding in the bus or while
tilling the farm, while studying or while praying, while playing or while
raising our families; while casting our vote or while being threaten by wars
and terrorism. In each of these moments, we may not be perfect, like our
ancestors. But, just as our ancestors kept the memory of God’s love in the
Passover, so we also know and trust that God loves us... We walk by faith
and that God constantly loves and watches over us no matter how
challenging our times may be! Ours must be a pilgrimage of faith.
Reflection Questions
1.
Do we realize and believe that God accompanies us on our
journeys and pilgrimages of faith?
2.
Do we walk by faith and encourage others to do so?
3.
What distracts us from our faith values?
Nineteenth Sunday of Year C
Faith is Living in Active Hope what the Lord has Promise
us
Fr. Udoekpo, Michael Ufok
§ Wisdom 18:6-9;
§ Ps
33:1,12,18-19,20-22;
§ Heb 11:1-2.8-9
§ Luke 12:32-48
In the past two
Sundays, Jesus taught us how to pray and how not to be greedy, or get attached
to material things. Today he teaches us that faith and hope are connected.
Faith and hope are in love with each other. And this faith is the supernatural
gift which enables us to actively hope for all the good things God has promised
us in this life and in the life to come.
Abraham’s case in
Genesis 12 quoted by the preacher of the Letter to the Hebrews 11 is a clear
example. Faith, the preacher stresses, “Is the assurance of things hoped for,
the conviction of things not seen.” Even though we have not seen, a graceful
conviction to be able to say like our Mother Mary, "Lord be it done to be
me according to your words," (Luke 1:38) or with the Doubting Thomas,
"My Lord and My God," (John 20:28).
Called by God to
leave his own land and travel to an unknown and unseen destination, the
Promised Land, Abraham did without questioning God. Imagine the difficulties of
leaving the comfort of your room and home to a strange land. All that Abraham
had was his faith in God. He had no traveling insurance or health plan, except
faith in God and in his divine promises, that God would bless him, and grant
him the Promised Land as well as multiply his descendants.
While on the journey
Abraham had his own share of difficulties, as all of us do. He had trouble with
his Nephew Lot, you would recall. He was confronted by kings like Abimelech,
who threatened to snatch Sarah away from Abraham. Abraham was faced with Family
disputes, external threats, and meanwhile Sarah his wife was barren! In fact
the barrenness of Sarah was as an experience no woman in the ancient culture
would love to have or recommend for her loved ones.
The question
then is, If Sarah was barren and without a child, how would the promised of the
multiplication of descendant promised Abraham by God be fulfilled? The answer
is through faith and hope. Abraham put everything in the baskets of faith and
hope. We know in the rest of the story that because of his faith and trust in
God Abraham was blessed with children including Isaac, father to Esau and
Jacob, who was also, blessed with many children- the 12 tribes of Israel, our
great- great grandparents in faith, whom God saw through slavery and through
the horrible experiences of the wilderness (cf. Exodus).
Acknowledging
this kindness from the Lord the Psalmist sings:
“See the eyes of
the Lord are upon those who fear him, upon those who hope for his kindness, to
deliver them from death and preserve them in spite of famine…” (Ps 33).
Faith is God’s
grace bestowed upon us to actively hope for God’s kindness, to appreciate his
love, to rely on his mercy and to always plead for his forgiveness. I
deliberately use the phrase " actively hope for," here because in
today’s gospel Jesus reminds us that we should always strive to make good
use of our time, to always prepare, to always hope, to always keep doing good
things, good works. We don’t want to be like that lazy and hypocritical servant
who gets lazy when the master is gone. When the master returns the servant is
not ready. He is caught un-prepared, not ready. Jesus condemns this servant
because this servant does not seem to be ready. He is lazy and negligence.
Faith is not
negligence of our prayer life. Faith is not in-action. Faith is not inactivity,
but activity, good works- charity, forgiveness, visit to the sick, holding that
door of elevator for that fragile senior and for our neighbors. I know there
are sometimes when Jesus seems not to be present. We feel our prayers which
Jesus taught us two Sundays ago have not been heard. We feel this way sometimes
during tragedies, death and sufferings and frustrations! We feel this way when
the Church is embarrassed by the clergy sexual abuse. We feel this way when
terrorism, poverty, wars and anti-Christian faith sentiments have not been
eradicated overnight from our society. That's alright! Job and Habakkuk
once felt that way! But I can assure you Jesus; Our Lord is ever divinely
present in our midst! He might seem delayed as the master in today’s gospel!
And while it may seem that way, hope and watchfulness is the answer,
rather than misbehavior or getting drunk like the bad steward in the gospel of
reading.
We are to
constantly do good things, forgive; love, share, reach-out, as if today were to
be our last day on earth. There is a story of three young college students been
asked what they would do if it was suddenly announced in the loudspeaker that
they had only 24 hours to live. The first, said he would run home to greet and
hug his parents. The second said, she would rush home to have her last lunch
with apple pie desert served with ice cream. While still, the third said he
will keep on doing what he was doing. This response is very close to the
response of St. Francis while tilling the farm was asked what he will do if the
world was coming to an end now. Francis, we are told said, he will keep on
tilling the farm.
This (third)
response seems to be very close to what the Lord expects of us. What does Jesus
expects of us? Like in the case of Abraham, Jesus is calling us not only to be
faithful, and actively hopeful that we shall receive all that God has
promised us, but to be vigilant and consistent in acts of peace, communion,
unity-promotion, love and charity to one another. This is our faith. This is
our hope.
Reflection Questions
1.
Do we realize and believe that God accompanies us on our
journeys and pilgrimages of faith?
2.
Do we walk by faith and encourage others to do so?
3.
What distracts us from our faith values?
