Tuesday
of the 29th Week in Ordinary Time
October 21,
2014 8:30am
Often enough I have heard people
say: “I don’t know what I would do without my faith.”
I have heard people say this when
they are grieving the death of a loved one, or when they are suffering through
a sickness, or when they are dealing with family or marriage troubles or the
loss of a job.
And I think it is a real and good
statement.
In a way, I am thinking we can
all say it: “I don’t know what I would do without my faith.”
That really is what Saint Paul is
saying in today’s first reading.
Paul says to the people of
Ephesus that at one time you were without Christ, without hope, without God.
But now you have Christ and that
makes all the difference in the world.
Paul says to them and says to us:
Now we can have inner peace.
Now we have a oneness and a sense
of oneness with God.
Now we have a oneness with each
other through Jesus, a sense of community, a relationship of brother and sister
with all other human beings.
Now we have, to use Paul’s word,
a foundation for our lives.
Now we have meaning and purpose,
a way to live.
Now we have hope, a hope that is
based not on a wish but based on our relationship with Jesus.
Christ has done this for us,
transformed our lives and our earthly experience.
All we have to do is be receptive
to what he offers.
And that is Jesus’ point in the
gospel.
Be receptive to the Lord and
alert to the Lord each day.
If we do that, if we respond in
this way and do our part, then there will be a world of difference in our
lives.
And we too will say: “I don’t
know what I would do without my faith.”
