The Dimensions of Faith

These weeks of Ordinary Time are full of challenge. Among these challenges are the qualities a disciple of Jesus will need. Foremost of these  is faith. Faith is a way of seeing. Either we are going to use the lens of fear and hopelessness that the culture would offer, or we are going to
look ‘odd’ because we see life differently. We view events through a lens of faith with hope in the power of One who brings life even out of death.

So, note the dimensions of faith in the texts of these August Sundays. First, we learn that faith means ‘being ready,’ for anything. It means that as long as we are ‘on the Way,’ in Jesus, we are safe even in the midst of trauma. Then we learn that faith will divide us from even family
members who choose the fear lens. We will have to stand firm. Next we discover that some folks can be ‘in Jesus’ and not know it. They cling to God while Jesus is hidden from them. Finally, we learn that faith is humble. It does not strut around. It realizes that God is the One who gives
this way of seeing life.

 
Central to this month of August is the Feast of Mary’s Assumption. She is the First of Believers, clinging to the Word of God given her in the deepest darkness. Her Assumption shows us what happens to those who are steadfast in faith. She shines, like her Transfigured Son, beautiful
beyond belief.

 

Lord, I do believe,
Help my unbelief.
The news is heavy these days.
There seems to be no way out
of the endless problems that present themselves:
political, social, medical, religious...
we feel so powerless.
Show us that at such times we need to be
like magnets on a refrigerator door,
hanging on for dear life when we don’t have eyes to see
the force that keeps us where we need to be.
You will bring us through.
Help us to be that little spot of light in the darkness
that proves the darkness has not won.
Amen.