29th Sunday in
Ordinary Time
Cycle C
October 20, 2013 9:30
and 11:00am
Saint
Margaret Parish, Bel Air
“Will he
find faith…?
In
today’s gospel, it almost seems as if Jesus gets distracted.
Jesus
tells his disciples a parable about the necessity of praying.
His story is about a widow who just won’t give up asking the judge for
what she deserves.
But
then, after telling this story, Jesus asks a question that doesn’t seem to
follow: “But when the Son of God comes,
will he find any faith on earth?”
The issue is: how does this statement fit with the story he has just
told?
Will There Be Trusting Faith?
One of
our Catholic authors says that the answer depends on what we mean by faith.
When
Jesus asks “Will the Son of God find
faith on the earth?” he is referring back to the woman in the parable. He is not using this woman’s faith as an
example of persons who know all the definitions in the catechism and all the
teachings of the Church.
Instead,
he uses this woman as an example of persons who trust in God regardless of what
is going on in their lives. She is an
example of those who try to center their lives on God when things are good and
who turn to God when things are difficult.
There
are several times in the gospel where Jesus says to people, “Your faith has saved you.” He says this as he heals people, physically,
emotionally, or spiritually.
And
when Jesus says “Your faith has saved
you,” he means that there is a love of God and trust in God in their heart
– in their heart. He means a steady trust
in the goodness of God, even if things are tough and even if we do not fully
understand – a trusting that is first and foremost a matter of the heart.
The Profession of Faith and Faith
Today,
as on every Sunday, we will recite the Profession of Faith.
We
recommit ourselves to certain basic doctrinal truths about God. This Profession of Faith is an important and
necessary part of faith.
But
here is the question. Is it possible to
profess this and not have the underlying, trusting, heart- faith of the woman
in the gospel?
Is it
possible to profess this without having what Jesus calls the faith that saves? It is this steady, trusting faith in God that
Jesus seems to be referring to in that last line of the gospel.
I think
this is what Pope Francis has been getting at.
He has not been hammering away at just two or three issues of faith or
Catholic teaching.
Instead,
Pope Francis has been focusing more on the love and mercy and goodness of God
and on our need to have a trusting relationship with God. He seems to see this as the core or the foundation
of all faith.
This
must be one reason why Pope Francis is so appealing to many Catholics, to
Catholics who feel distanced from the Church, and to many other Christians and
other people. He is taking us back to
the core of our faith.
A Big Home of Faith
And maybe this is also why Pope Francis sees the Church as
a large home for many and not as a little chapel for a few.
The Pope doesn’t seem to want to exclude people from the
community of the Church for just one issue or another. This seems to follow the way of Jesus.
Jesus lifts up the trusting, heart-faith of the woman in
today’s parable. This is what brings her
and us into relationship with Jesus.
Pope Francis seems to be saying that this is the test of
being in God’s family. This doesn’t make
other truths and doctrines unimportant.
It simply says that this trusting, heart-faith is the
basis for oneness with Jesus and oneness with the living Body of Christ on this
earth. This is to be the basis for
welcoming and including.
So, “Will the Son of
God find faith on the earth?” I believe
there is a good amount of it, within the Church, and also outside the Church, especially
among some who have felt distanced for one reason or another.
