19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (August 6-7, 2016)

One night a house caught fire and a young little boy was forced to flee to the roof. The father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms, calling to his son, "Jump! I'll catch you." He knew the boy had to jump to save his life. All the boy could see, however, was flame, smoke, and blackness. As can be imagined, he was afraid to leave the roof. His father kept yelling: "Jump! I will catch you." But the boy protested, "Daddy, I can't see you." The father replied, "But I can see you and that's all that matters." Hearing this, the boy jumped. He jumped, because he trusted his father.
 
Can we place ourselves in the mind and heart of this young boy as his dad is telling him to jump?  What about when we face life situations of sickness, death, brokenness in relationships, and we are gripped by fear, are we able to trust in God as a loving Father?  Faith is the willingness to risk, to jump when we are not in control and to trust that we are in the hands of God and thus we are not to be afraid.
 
For myself, my desire to control and figure things out blind me from trusting in God’s plan for my life.   Letting go of my plans and trusting in God’s plan for me is a challenge to my prayer life each and every day.
 
Our Catholic faith enables us to face life or meet death, not because we can see, but with the certainty that we are seen; not that we know all the answers, but that we are known. Faith is not merely us holding on to God - it is God holding on to us. And He will never let us go!
 
In the Second Reading of today, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews speaks about two faith-filled people, Abraham and Sarah. He recalls how our early faith ancestors placed their trust in God. Abraham and Sarah left their comfortable home and set out for an unknown land because God called them. When God promised them that their 'descendants would be as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sands of the sea,' they were old enough to be great-grandparents and Sarah too was sterile. Even though for so long they saw no fulfillment of the promise, they believed. They had the virtue of faith, a lasting confidence that God's word would be fulfilled someday.
 
And when God finally granted them a son, He asked Abraham to sacrifice him and still continue to believe, to trust, and to hope that the promise would still somehow be accomplished. Abraham, faithfully listening to the word of God, 'hoped against hope' that his son would be restored to him, even as he was willing to sacrifice him. It is shocking to think that somebody was willing to sacrifice his own son to God. Essentially, Abraham's readiness to sacrifice his son is an act of trust, of faith, in which he was proved right. We consider Abraham our father in faith, and he is a model for our own times – he took great risks; he had no agenda other than his faithful obedience to the God in whom he trusted completely. We might ask whether we are models of faith in light of this passage.
 
Hopefully we can follow the example of Abraham, leaving behind our fears and allow God to act through us to become a more recognizable presence in our world.  Abraham and Sarah were like the young boy on the roof and left everything they had known and journeyed in trust in following God’s plan for them.
 
In the Gospel Jesus says:  “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.  Sell your belongings and give alms.  Provide money bags for yourself that do not wear out…For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.”

This passage is concluding the teaching of the birds of the air and the lilies of the field.  They neither sow nor reap and yet they are cared by our heavenly Father.  How much more so are we valued by our loving God.  God desires to share his kingdom with us.  All is a gift of God.  All is given to us so that we may share what we have with others.
It is worth reflecting on the truth that ultimately that eventually all of our possessions will be given away or taken from us. When we go home to the Lord, we can’t take our possessions with us. Jesus challenges us to give and share what we have.  It is in giving that we receive; it is in sharing that we get in touch with our better angels.

Jesus warns us that material possessions can capture our heart, not allowing us to be free to follow him.  Jesus challenges us to reveal what it is we truly value, following Him or being caught in a cycle of material wealth.

Our true wealth is to be found in our human and spiritual possessions rather than our material possessions.  Our human possessions are the people of our life – the people we love and the people who love us.  With our human possessions, we are challenged to welcome the stranger and the foreigner and the person in need.  Our deepest treasure is in knowing that our spiritual possessions and our human possessions are one and the same.  We show our love for God in the ways we love one another.  Jesus says:  “By this all shall know that you are my disciples, by the love you love for one another.”

All three readings today call for a faith-filled vigilance, a holy patience, a focused waiting.  Jesus is calling for an attitude of vigilance.  This is a challenge for us.  Whatever our differences as Republicans or Democrats, as men or women, we all dread delay.  We hate to wait.  This week gong to NYC, there were flight delays going and coming to Rochester.  These delays caused considerable agita for those traveling, including myself.  We hate to wait.

Mothers know a little bit about waiting -- waiting nine months for the birth of their child.
In the spiritual life, we need to develop a holy patience.  Growth in the spiritual usually takes place in bite-size pieces.  The way we discern God’s plan for our lives requires a holy patience.  St. Paul in describing the mystery of love begins with the words”  “Love is patient.”  Thanks be to God that God is patient with us.  God is a God of second chances.  We too are to be patient in the ways we love on another.

In summarizing the power of today’s Scripture readings, life is a gift of God, and that gift is to be given away.  Life is for the giving and the sharing. When we recognize God’s desire to give His life for us, we then are motivated to give our lives to others.