Saturday of Week 3 in Ordinary Time (Year I)
Saint Thomas Aquinas, Priest, Doctor
Hebrews 11:1-2,8-19 | Luke 1:69-75 | Mark 4:35-41
Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of the realities that at present remain unseen. (Hebrews 11:1)
On our way to a family reunion lunch yesterday, my wife and I encountered a young girl in a beautiful pink dress walking towards us…and wiping away her tears with the back of her hand. We assumed that she had lost her parents and was looking for them, just like many children we’ve all seen in busy shopping malls.
Except we didn’t approach her to help, as would be our normal instinct, because this girl seemed…different somehow. It took a while to figure out, but then it hit me: she was not crying out in distress, like every other child would in her situation.
Also, despite her obvious sorrow, she was still moving in a very calm manner – not running aimlessly around, nor swiveling her head left and right in a fruitless hunt for her missing parents. She was just walking purposefully, and wiping away her silent tears with the back of her hand.
It was as if she had faith that she would find her parents, who at present remained unseen.
I have no doubt she found her way back to her loved ones. No doubt whatsoever.
✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞
How many of us have the kind of faith that this little girl had?
How many of us still stay the course of the Lord, when the storms of life bear down upon us, as they did upon Jesus’ disciples in today’s gospel?
How many of us are confident that there will be something wondrous at the end of our mortal existence, and that we just need to keep faithful to receive the crown of life? (Revelations 2:10)
There are indeed times when my faith is punctured by the crass indifference I see around me, by the hurtful things people do to each other, by the pain and suffering borne by my family and friends. I imagine you too experience such uncertainty, dear friends.
So as we celebrate Chinese New Year today, let us bless each other with the gift of steadfast faith in our Creator, that He may in turn bless us with:
- the Life that surpasses our mundane existence,
- the Love that heals our beleaguered souls, and
- the Hope that lifts us to a new plane of being.
Amen.