19th Sunday in Ordinary Time – C
August 10, 2025 8:30am
Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton
Trust Not Certainty
A man named Kyle has talked about his faith.
He says that for many years, he treated faith like a checklist. Prayers said, rules followed, doubts buried!
Kyle thought that faith meant certainty, unwavering belief. But life eventually cracked that illusion.
There was an unexpected layoff from his job, then his mother’s illness, and then a friend’s betrayal of his confidence. All of this shook the ground beneath him.
But then, one day, Kyle was at a playground with his little son, helping him to swing. They were having a good time, and his son got the nerve to jump from the swing into Kyles waiting arms, even laughing in midair.
No fear. No hesitation. Just trust. And then it struck Kyle. Faith wasn’t about having all the answers.
It was about letting go, even when the future was unclear. Like his little boy, he didn’t need to see the safety net.
He just needed to trust it was there. From that day, Kyle prayed differently—not to control outcomes, but to lean into uncertainty with trust.
He realized that faith wasn’t just a fortress of beliefs. It was trust – trust in God.
Faith as Trust
Kyle’s breakthrough is what we hear about in today’s second reading.
The passage makes two points: 1) Faith is trust about what is not present but hoped for – what is not present but hoped for. And 2) faith is trust about what is present but not seen – what is present but not seen
1. Trust: Not Present, but Hoped For
So, first, faith is trust in what is not present but hoped for.
The Letter to the Hebrews gives us Abraham as a model. Abraham and Sarah lived in what is now Iraq, but at God’s calling, they set out for an unknown land.
They were also advanced in years, but they now had God’s promise of a child. So, they had trust in what was not present but hoped for – a new land and a child.
In our lives, we need this same kind of faith. Maybe when we leave home and go out on our own for the first time, or maybe when we take a new job.
I remember having to do this when I was trying to make a final decision on becoming a priest. I ended up having to trust that when I got ordained, God would be there for me helping me to live this life happily and be a good priest.
My point is that we are all often called to have this kind of faith: this trust in what is not present but hoped for.
2. Trust: Present, but Not Seen
And then, faith is also trust about what is present but not seen.
To go back to today’s second reading, Abraham had to trust in what God was telling him about a new land and a child. He had to trust that God was really present to him in these promises, even though he did not see God.
Maybe we need this trust that God is still present with us when we feel very dry, empty in our prayer. Maybe we need this when we are grieving the loss of a loved.
Maybe we need this when we are doubting our own worth because of a traffic accident or a foul-up at work that we are responsible for. In times of darkness like these, we need trust God still loves us and is still with us.
My point is that we are often called to have this kind of faith also: this trust in what is present but not seen.
Conclusion
So, Kyle in the story that I shared came to realize that faith is not so much certainty as it is trust: trust about what is not present but hoped for, and trust about what is present but not seen.
With that understanding, I ask you to do one thing right now.
As we make our usual Profession of Faith, offer this today as an act of trust. Make it a statement of trust in God and of entrusting yourself and your worries and upsets to God and God’s love.
