Homily, 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

27th Sunday of the Year C

Readings: Hab 1:2-3, 2:2-4 ;  2 Tim 1:6-8, 13-14; Luke 15:5-10

Faith is not always a smooth road. It is not a condition that is consistent, changeless, free from trials or temptations. In all three readings today, we meet people struggling with their faith.

“How long, O Lord? I cry for help, but you do not listen!” . So laments the prophet Habakkuk in today’s First Reading. He is fed up with the social injustices he sees all around him and has been crying out to God to punish those who are responsible. And that is not happening. Naturally, Habakkuk begins to get frustrated and begins to wonder if God is listening! 

There are  times we also feel the same and ask; God, are you listening? We ask: We’re the ones who say our prayers, share in the Sacraments and do a lot of charity work.  God, why aren’t you listening?

Dear friends, faith is a very tricky subject. However, there is one aspect of faith that we probably all share to some extent. Many of us, I guess, at times, like to think of faith as a “Give and Take”: We do certain things and then God is sort of “obligated” to do certain things for us. We do something good and then God has to do something for us in return. We pray the right way and God has to give us what we want . And when that doesn’t happen, we get frustrated, and begin to wonder what God is up to. Does God care?

“How long, O Lord? I cry for help, but you do not listen!”

It is not easy that we do not always get what we deserve. But let’s think about it for a second. What we are really saying is that we only want to get what we “deserve” when it’s something good.! What do we want God to do when we’ve done the opposite, when we’ve done something bad, when we’ve hurt someone, or cheated someone, or neglected someone? In those cases, do we still want God to give us what we “deserve”? Probably not! 

Our incredible God loves us deeply, but God never owes us anything. The good thing about having a God who does not owes us is that it allows God to be God. And that is a very good thing because God’s way is always the best way even if we can’t see it, even if we can’t understand it. God’s grace is not dependent on us. It is pure gift.  And that brings us back to faith. Sometimes it’s easier to understand faith by its effects, by the fruits it produces, by the difference it makes in the lives of those who receive the gift of faith with open arms.   

Walter Ciszek was a Polish Jesuit priest, who spent 15 years in forced labor camps in Siberia. Through all those years he belonged to the lowest brigades forced to do the dirtiest work- digging foundations by hand, loading, and unloading heavy construction materials, crawling in dark damp mines, where death was only one careless step away. And when they asked him what kept him going? He said, “ People died in the camps especially when they gave up hope. But I trusted in God, and so I never felt without hope. It was not I who keep the faith; it the faith that kept me”. 

Faith does not shield us from the hard knocks of life or death but keeps us going in difficult times. We have heard many people tell us that : “My faith got me through it” Faith has given people the strength to endure the seemingly impossible situations. 

Dear friends, we also need to heed the words of Paul to Timothy: “ Fan into a flame the gift that God gave you”. We need to fan into a flame the spark of faith we got in baptism. It is not enough just to keep the faith; we have to grow in it. Faith does not remain stationary, no more than any of our relationships remain stationary. It grows through prayer, though regular nourishment and contact with the believing community. This is where the community comes in . It is hard to be a believer on one’s own. The community is a support group of believers.

And the amazing thing about authentic faith is not only the tangible difference it can make in our world, but also the intangible difference it can make in each of our hearts . It is that sort of deep faith that allows us to:

Hope when things seem hopeless.

Trust when life seems spiraling out of control.

Believe even if evidence is hard to see.

Give even when we don’t have much.

Forgive even the big stuff.

Love even when we don’t feel like it.

A faith that doesn’t falter when the there are no miracles or happy endings

A Good Friday faith that trusts in the dawn of Easter. 

A faith rooted in God’s loves for us and that expresses itself in love for others

All of us can make our own the prayer of the apostles, “Lord Jesus. Increase our faith!” 

This weekend is Respect Life Sunday. This observance emphasizes the concern for all human life, especially that of the unborn, the elderly, persons with disabilities, the terminally ill and all those whose lives are easily threatened. Since all life is sacred, during this Respect Life Month let us unceasingly pray that life is duly respected and protected. May all of us work to advance the Gospel of Life.  ###