A tourist came too close to the edge of the Grand Canyon, lost his footing and plunged over the side, clawing for anything to save his life. Somehow, he managed to grab hold of a small bush. Filled with terror, he yelled, “Is there anyone up there? Can anyone help me?” He heard a reassuring voice say, “I’m here. I, the Lord, your God.”
The man said, “Oh, I’m so glad you’re here. I can’t hold on much longer.” The Lord said, “Before I help you, I want to know if you believe in me.” The man replied, “Of course, I believe in you. I go to Mass every Sunday, I read the Bible, I pray everyday, and I even put a few dollars in the collection basket.”
The Lord asked again, “But do you really believe in me?” Meanwhile, the man was getting desperate. “Lord, you can’t believe how much I believe in you!” “Good,” God replied, “Now let go of the branch.” The man stammered, “But, Lord!”
And the voice of the Lord came back, “If you believe in me, let go of the branch.” The man was silent for a moment and then yelled, “Is there anyone else up there?”
I pray that you will never find yourself in such a situation but these readings invite us to ponder the issue of faith, especially in difficult times. Faith is fundamental to being fully human but do we really know what the word means? I imagine we would have a diverse and divergent collection of definitions if everyone present jotted down their personal meanings of faith.
Consider the definition given in Hebrews, clear and to the point, “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” Would you have defined faith in this way? The letter then illustrates its point with the example of Abraham and Sarah, who dared to leave behind the familiar, with faith in God, to journey into the unknown.
In the passage from Wisdom, we witness the faith of the Israelites on the first night of their exodus from Egypt. They trusted that the God of Abraham would free them from a life of slavery. Under the cover of night, they did what needed to be done to be ready, placing their faith in the covenant between God and their ancestor, Abraham, in which God promised that Abraham’s descendants would be as numerous as the stars.
Both passages illustrated the courage to take the leap, to let go of fear, and to trust God to be with them as they ventured into the unknown. Our word, “trust,” perhaps best captures the spirit of faith being expressed in this passage from Hebrews. They trusted in the face of obstacles and contradictions that God would deliver them to the land where Abraham and Sarah died.
Faith is what draws us together to worship God at Mass. We admire the faith we witness in Abraham, Sarah, Peter and the other disciples. We look forward to sitting down at the Eucharistic banquet but as the gospel implies, anything could happen between now and then. What will our faith be like on that day?
Today’s liturgy speaks loudly to us at a time in our society when we have many reasons to be afraid. The economy is not recovering as fast as many had hoped. Nearly ten percent of our labor force is unemployed or underemployed. The lingering war in the Middle East has cost us dearly in lives lost or maimed. Waking up to the news of a terminal or life altering illness is a fate that happens daily. These concerns or others could easily tax our faith in God. What fears we have could be based on awareness that we are not all that we might be or that we have not always been faithful to others or to God.
Instead of allowing fear to control our lives though, Jesus urges us to be prepared. But, he isn’t speaking only of that moment in the future when death will greet us. We should always be ready to meet God, not just in our dying moment, but in the present moment as well, especially moments when we are fearful.
The imagery Jesus uses of servants awaiting their master’s return reminds me of students in the classroom waiting for the teacher to show up. Some prepare for the upcoming lesson, while others will do whatever suits their fancy at the moment, perhaps presuming the teacher will not show up. They pass up any number of learning opportunities. So do we when we act as though God is not on hand to teach us a lesson through the people or events that enter our lives daily. Pearl Bailey quipped, “People see God every day. They just don’t recognize him.”
Do you? Faith has the potential to shape our lives if we allow ourselves to notice that God is fully present in the people and events that surround us. Granted, not all the choices we make affect our relationship with God, but every time we make a moral choice without considering what God expects of us, we diminish our relationship with God. In his book, Markings, Dag Hammarksjold observed, “we die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance, renewed daily, of a wonder, the source of which is beyond all reason.”
And how are our lives to be illumined? Through daily prayer, which many people consider to be a waste of time but that is the paradox of prayer. Just as a friendship cannot grow unless time is invested, our relationship with God cannot thrive unless we invest time in prayer, which gives God the chance to advise us how best to handle the issues of our daily lives, whatever they are. Prayer allows us to let go of the past, cease worrying about the future, and live in the present moment.
The life we want to save is our eternal life but that can’t be done without faith in the God who unconditionally loves us. May our faith be stronger yet on the day we meet God face to face.