29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C - October 19, 2025

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time – C 

October 19, 2025    5pm

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton

 

“Will he find faith…?” 

 

“When the Son of Man comes, will he find any faith on earth?”  

 

This is the very last sentence in today’s gospel about a widowed woman who is very poor, who has been left with nothing since her husband’s death. She keeps asking an official for some relief or help. 

 

This poor widow is persevering in seeking a just decision. And that is the point here – her perseverance. 

 

That is what Jesus is thinking about when he says: “When the Son of Man comes, will he find any faith on earth?” Jesus sees perseverance as central to faith.  

 

3 Ingredients of Faith 

 

This passage led me to recall a presentation that I heard several years ago.

 

The presenter was a man named Don Bisson. He is a Marist Brother, a religious in our Church for fifty years.

 

In the presentation, Brother Don Bisson says that there are three ingredients needed for becoming a person of real faith. These ingredients can be remembered by the letters I-P-A. 

 

For those of us who enjoy beer, here I-P-A does not mean India Pale Ale. Instead, those letters stand for: 1) Insight, 2) Perseverance, and 3) Action.

 

1.   Insight

 

First, we need Insight.

 

We are to see God as our Creator and ourselves as God’s sons and daughters. We are to see the commandments as the basic map for living, like worshiping God and not coveting our neighbor’s spouse or property. 

 

We are to see the Beatitudes of Jesus as a fulfillment of the commandments, by being merciful and peacemaking. And we are to see the goal of heaven – that someday we will return to God and come to the fullness of life. 

 

So, we need this Insight. And this Insight helps us to feel a certain security and direction. 

 

But, Brother Don Bisson insists, this Insight is not enough. It also needs to be maintained and lived out. 

 

2.   Perseverance

 

So, besides Insight, we need Perseverance.

 

We live in a culture that likes quick fixes. For example, we want our chipped tooth fixed and a crown put on it right away. 

 

So, Perseverance can be difficult for us. But we need this, for example, when we are sick, especially with a serious or prolonged illness. 

 

When this happens, we are invited to identify with Jesus in his emotional, spiritual, and physical suffering. We need to draw upon the grace of God and we will feel strength and hope through this. 

 

So, this Perseverance is an essential ingredient of faith. The woman in today’s gospel is a great example of this.

 

3.   Action

 

And that leads to the final ingredient: Action.

 

The idea is that faith is not just an inner or private thing. We are to live it by what we do. 

 

So, we are to do what we can to assist a family member who is feeling down and out after losing their job. We are to do what we can to help those who are in need and whom we don’t even know, like our parish winter clothing outreach does.

 

And we are at least to pray for those who are on the margins of life – like those who lack access to health care. Actions like these do as much for us as they do for others. 

 

They bring our faith alive. They bring us feelings of satisfaction and authenticity.

 

Conclusion

 

So, I-P-A – not India Pale Ale, but 1) Insight, 2) Perseverance, and 3) Action – these are needed for us to become persons of full faith.

 

I recommend that today or this week, we identify the number one ingredient of faith that needs some focus from us. So, do I need to recall more the Insight that faith brings and allow this to enrich me? 

 

Or do I need to turn to God for more Perseverance in dealing with some suffering? Or do I need to be more intentional about Action that would benefit someone? 

 

What area would lead us to a fuller faith right now? Let’s resolve to look at that as we now offer our Profession of Faith. 

 

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C - October 12, 2025

28^th Sunday in Ordinary Time – C  

October 12, 2025    5pm    

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 

 

Rabbi Harold Kushner

 

I imagine that some or even many of us have heard of the Jewish Rabbi Harold Kushner.

 

Rabbi Kushner was an American, he lived in Massachusetts, and he died two years ago. He wrote fourteen books and his wisdom crossed religious boundaries and touched people of all backgrounds.   

 

One of his books is The Lord is My Shepherd: Healing Wisdom of the Twenty-third Psalm. The twenty-third is one of our most well-known psalms.

 

We often sing it at funerals. Well, in his book The Lord is My Shepherd: Healing Wisdom of the Twenty-third Psalm, Rabbi Kushner reflects on gratitude.     

 

The Lord is My Shepherd 

 

He writes this.

 

“I read of a person who had formed the habit of writing Thank you on the lower left corner of every check he wrote. When he paid his electric bill or his phone bill, he would write Thank you to express his gratitude to the companies that made those services available. 

 

“Even when he paid his taxes, he would write Thank you on the check as a way of reminding himself that his taxes were the price he willingly paid for living in the United States with all of its benefits (even though he didn’t think the Internal Revenue Service would notice it).” 

 

Rabbi Kushner then goes on to write about himself.

. 

“Each night as I prepare for bed, I put drops in my eyes to fend off the threat of glaucoma that would rob me of my sight and take from me the pleasure of reading. Each morning at breakfast, I take a pill to control my blood pressure, and each evening at dinner I take another pill to lower my cholesterol. 

 

“But instead of lamenting the ailments that come with growing older, instead of wishing I were as young and fit as I once was, I take my medicine with a prayer of thanks that modern science has found ways to help me cope with these ailments. 

 

“I think of all my ancestors who didn’t live long enough to develop the complications of old age or did not have pills to take when they did live that long.”

 

Gratitude

 

So, gratitude – that’s the virtue that Rabbi Kushner highlights.

 

Gratitude is not just a polite response for an act of kindness – like saying Thank you to the usher after Mass for handing you a bulletin. Gratitude is that, but it is more than that.

 

It is also a mindset, an attitude, a spirit within us. It is the perspective that we have much to be thankful for, beginning with this day of life.

 

Gratitude is feeling blessed by the good persons who have been or still are in our lives. It is being thankful for things we can easily take for granted – like having heat or air conditioning or a hot shower.

 

Gratitude means that we take time to express our thankfulness – like the one leper in today’s gospel. Notice how transformed this man was by Jesus – at least physically and maybe spiritually also.

 

Our gratitude, our thanking God or another person or both will also transform us. It will make us closer to God and more connected with others. 

 

That’s the transformation that can happen by being grateful. We can grow closer to God and more connected with others.  

 

Action

 

So, I’m asking each of you to do something in the week ahead.

 

Every day this week, each day, name one person or one thing for which you are grateful. Name something different each day and thank God for it.

 

And, if appropriate, thank the other person also. So, think of one person or one thing each day this week and be thankful.

 

Your gratitude will open you to God’s transforming power. You will feel closer to God and more connected with others. 

 

That’s the power of gratitude. That’s the lesson of Rabbi Kushner and of the one leper in today’s gospel.  

 

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C - October 5, 2025

 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time – C  

October 5, 2025      11am  

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 

 

A Vision 

I recently read a story about a young woman named Lena. 

Lena grew up in a rather poor town in Greece where dreams often went unfulfilled. But at age fourteen, she wrote in her journal, “I will be a doctor and build a clinic in my village.” 

People chuckled—no one from there had ever done such a thing. Years passed. 

Lena faced setbacks: her father lost his job, she worked nights, and her grades slipped. But her vision pulled her forward like a magnet. 

When she wanted to quit, she reread her journal. Finally, at age 28, Lena returned home—not just as a doctor, but as the founder of a small health center that served hundreds of people. 

An old neighbor asked, “How did you do it?” She smiled and said, “I saw it before it existed.”

Having a vision didn’t remove obstacles, but it gave Lena the strength to face them. With the vision, she became and built something that made a difference.

The Vision

 

Lena’s vison was crucial and that is the message in today’s first reading.

 

The prophet Habakuk is experiencing violence and desolation and division and cries out to God. God says: “Write down the vision. The vision will have its time and will not disappoint you.”

 

God wants to make sure that his people will remember the vision. God wants us to 1) see the vision, 2) trust the vision, and 3) live the vision.

 

1.    See the Vision

 

First, see the vision.

 

For us, this means that we need to see Jesus himself.  We are to see him as the way to God and the way to know God because he is God present with us.

 

And we need to see the vision that Jesus gives us. We are to see his vision of God as a loving Parent – and that’s it, a loving Parent.

 

We are to see his vision of ourselves – as human and sometimes sinful, but also as worthy and beloved by God. And we are to see his vision of all humanity – of all persons as God’s sons and daughters.

  

This vision gradually shapes who we become as persons. It shapes how we see God and ourselves and others. 

 

2.   Trust the Vision 

 

Then, with this seeing, we are to trust the vision.

 

In the midst of all the upset and trouble, the prophet Habakuk cries out, “How long will this last, O Lord? I cry out, O Lord, but you do not seem to listen!” 

 

I mean, might we ourselves say similar words in today’s world or in our own personal life? Maybe we are in the middle of difficult chemotherapy treatments.  

 

Or maybe we are feeling anxious about our financial future. How does God respond to our prayer, our crying out? 

 

God is reassuring: “Write down the vision. The vision will have its time and will not disappoint you.”

 

So, we are to trust the vision. And part of that vision is that we are not alone. 

 

We are to trust Jesus’ promise that he is always with us. He is our strength and our refuge, no matter what. 

 

3.    Live the Vision 

 

And then, with this seeing and with this trust, we are to live the vision.

 

Jesus says in today’s gospel: “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move mountains.” So, we are to set out in everyday life to live the vision that faith gives us.

 

We live the vision by getting up every morning and offering our day to God. We resolve to do our best and give the best we can to making each day productive.

 

And we live the vision by being mindful of the needs of others. We focus both on ourselves and on the well-being of others – a balance that Jesus calls us to live. 

 

Conclusion

 

So, the prophet Habakuk leads us to a great lesson of faith today.

 

See the vision. Trust the vision. And live the vision.

 

When we do this, the challenges of life get repositioned a bit. We are living through them with God at our side and God within us.