The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today draw us back to the basics of the role of faith in filling our lives with life even as we journey through illness and death in our family and friends.
Faith and Full Life
The reading from the Book of Deuteronomy cautions against disobedience by reminding us of the Great Commandment and our call to fidelity in prosperity.
* [6:4] Hear, O Israel!: in Hebrew, shema yisra’el; hence this passage (vv. 4–9), containing the Great Commandment, is called the Shema. In later Jewish tradition, 11:13–21 and Nm 15:37–41 were added to form a prayer recited every evening and morning. The LORD is our God, the LORD alone: other possible translations are “the Lord our God is one Lord”; “the Lord our God, the Lord is one”; “the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.”1
Psalm 18 is a Royal Thanksgiving for Victory.
* [Psalm 18] A royal thanksgiving for a military victory, duplicated in 2 Sm 22. Thanksgiving Psalms are in essence reports of divine rescue. The Psalm has two parallel reports of rescue, the first told from a heavenly perspective (Ps 18:5–20), and the second from an earthly perspective (Ps 18:36–46). The first report adapts old mythic language of a cosmic battle between sea and rainstorm in order to depict God’s rescue of the Israelite king from his enemies. Each report has a short hymnic introduction (Ps 18:2–4, 32–36) and conclusion (Ps 18:21–31, 47–50).2
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches about faith as He cures a boy with a demon.
* [17:17] Faithless and perverse: so Matthew and Luke (Lk 9:41) against Mark’s faithless (Mk 9:19). The Greek word here translated perverse is the same as that in Dt 32:5 LXX, where Moses speaks to his people. There is a problem in knowing to whom the reproach is addressed. Since the Matthean Jesus normally chides his disciples for their little faith (as in Mt 17:20), it would appear that the charge of lack of faith could not be made against them and that the reproach is addressed to unbelievers among the Jews. However in Mt 17:20b (if you have faith the size of a mustard seed), which is certainly addressed to the disciples, they appear to have not even the smallest faith; if they had, they would have been able to cure the boy. In the light of Mt 17:20b the reproach of Mt 17:17 could have applied to the disciples. There seems to be an inconsistency between the charge of little faith in Mt 17:20a and that of not even a little in Mt 17:20b.3
Nancy Shirley shares one of the faith stories that filled her heart this week as she struggled to write her reflection that involved the death of a very young man.
We will not ever be free from tragedy and hurt while we walk this earth, but we will never have to face that hurt alone. We are always in the arms of our Father and comforted by our loving Mother and the numerous angels on earth. The ordinary people who cross our lives, share their stories, listen to ours, and together our lives are changed forever . . .4
Don Schwager quotes “Faith as a grain of mustard seed,” by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD).
"The mountains here spoken of, in my opinion, are the hostile powers that have their being in a flood of great wickedness, such as are settled down, so to speak, in some souls of various people. But when someone has total faith, such that he no longer disbelieves in anything found in holy Scripture and has faith like that of Abraham, who so believed in God to such a degree that his faith was reckoned to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6), then he has all faith like a grain of mustard seed. Then such a man will say to this mountain - I mean in this case the deaf and dumb spirit in him who is said to be epileptic - 'Move from here to another place.' It will move. This means it will move from the suffering person to the abyss. The apostle, taking this as his starting point, said with apostolic authority, 'If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains' (1 Corinthians 13:2). For he who has all faith - which is like a grain of mustard seed - moves not just one mountain but also more just like it. And nothing will be impossible for the person who has so much faith. Let us examine also this statement: 'This kind is not cast out except through prayer and fasting' (Mark 9:29). If at any time it is necessary that we should be engaged in the healing of one suffering from such a disorder, we are not to adjure nor put questions nor speak to the impure spirit as if it heard. But [by] devoting ourselves to prayer and fasting, we may be successful as we pray for the sufferer, and by our own fasting we may thrust out the unclean spirit from him." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 13.7.19)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Deuteronomy 6:4-13 comments that as we raise our children in the faith and speak openly about the difference Christ has made in our lives, we are living out our love for God and showing the world what Christian love looks like.
Moses knew that loving God and sharing that love with other people would help the Israelites remain faithful to him and not “forget” him (Deuteronomy 6:12). For us too, the more we share our love of God and put it into action, the more our love for God grows. And as our love for God grows, we will find ourselves sharing that love with more and more people. And so the cycle of grace keeps growing, bringing us all closer to the Lord. God is asking for our “all.” So let’s not shy away from the call to proclaim his good news. “Lord, teach me to love you more!”6
Friar Jude Winkler shares that the text from Deuteronomy begins the Jewish credal formula, the Shema, as he shares some signs of respect in Judaism for this Word. The failure of the disciples to cure the boy reveals a lack of faith in Jesus' authority to heal. Friar Jude reminds us that the most loving response from God may be what we ask or it may be an opportunity to meet Him on His Cross.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, shares the work of Buddhist teacher Cuong Lu, a student of Thich Nhat Hanh, who describes a practical way to be present to our pain.
The world needs your suffering, your courage, and your strength. Don’t try to kill your pain. Share it with another, communicate it. If the first person you talk to isn’t the right one, find someone else. Somebody somewhere wants to listen to your pain, to connect with you and understand you. When you find them, when you lighten your burden and discover the jewels and joy that are alive beneath the pain, later you’ll be present for others who are suffering.7
In our journey, faith brings strength that connects us to others.
References
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