Faith the Foundation of the Journey

The text today in the Roman Catholic Lectionary from the Letter to the Hebrews presents a definition of faith as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”. The author goes on the relate the story of the faith of Father Abraham who really demonstrated “faith beyond what his senses and common sense could support. The canticle this morning from the Gospel of Luke brings the faith of Zachariah that the Lord God was acting through the person of his son, John the Baptist to fulfill the ancient promise. The disciples accepted the invitation to join Jesus and to share His journey to Jerusalem. The decision to give up everything and follow him was not based on a logical expectation. In the episode today from Mark’s Gospel it appears as if the humanity of these men surfaces in fear of the forces of a storm which has arisen on the lake where they have worked as fishermen. The call to Jesus is familiar to many. The response is to bring peace and to invite us to challenge the doubt which may be encroaching on our faith built on the heritage of Abraham.