(Homily for February 18, 2017).
I like to
describe faith as a special pair of glasses. Like any pair of glasses, once you
put it on, you see things in a different light. For instance, there is a type
of glass that helps magnify objects used by wrist watchmakers while working on
very tiny parts of the engine. Faith is a supernatural glass that helps us see beyond
our immediate reality; that is, faith allows us to see things are non-existent
to the ordinary eye.
If I
attempted to work on a watch engine without the magnifying glass, I will fumble
and my mind will not be at peace because I will be like a blind person trying
to work my way through. Without Faith, we can never be at peace when it comes
to serving God. This is because without faith, we are unable to see the hand of
God at work in our life. The book of Hebrews in exhorting us to have faith
mentions persons whose faith are exemplary. One of such is Noah. Long before
the floods, when the earth was still dry, Noah’s faith enabled him to see ahead
of time what would happen and he started building the Ark. Faith not only gives
us peace of mind, it also makes us proactive.
In the
Transfiguration event, Jesus opened the eyes of Peter, James and John to see
His Glory. The transfiguration goes to show that there is more to reality than
what meets the ordinary eye. We need to constantly put on the eyes of faith so
as to get a full picture of what life holds for us. By being faithless, we only
cheat ourselves because there is a limit to what the ordinary eye can see. It
takes faith to see that what the bible said about Elijah coming again is true.
To the ordinary eye, John the Baptist was just man shouting in the wilderness
but as Jesus explains, he was actually the Elijah the prophets spoke about.
Faith not
only makes us proactive, it also makes us wise! From the midst of the
transfiguration came an instruction: “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”
It is normal to listen to people or take advice from the world but for the
person of faith, Jesus alone deserves our full attention and obedience. When
the world says: “assert your ground, kill your enemies and acquire riches in
other to be happy”, Jesus says: “blessed are the meek, love your enemies, seek
first God’s kingdom and store your treasures in heaven.” The question is: Who
do you really listen to?
Let us
Pray: Lord Jesus, open my eyes so that my faith may be deepened. Amen.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith.
It is well with you. God bless you. (Saturday of the 6th Week in Ordinary Time. Bible
Study: Hebrews 11:1-7 and Mark 9:2-13).
Fr. Abu.
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