DIVINE CALL CENTRE, MULKI

FAITH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

The curtain to the ‘Year of faith’ was raised on 11 October 2012 by Pope Benedict xvi marking the anniversaries of two important events; the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council (11 October 1962) and the 20th anniversary of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (11 October 1992). We have been walking in faith throughout this year keeping in mind the year of faith. We have grown and strengthened in our faith through various programmes and seminars conducted on faith. Many may have attended retreats based on ‘faith’, our faith must have been strengthened by the testimonies that we have heard. Throughout the year we have come across many articles based on faith in spiritual periodicals and magazines. Many spiritual websites have been flashing write ups about faith, trying to strengthen our faith through various stories and testimonies. We have been hearing so much about faith throughout the year. Indeed our faith is strengthened! We have grown in faith! And now it’s time to draw the curtain upon the ‘Year of faith’ on the 24 November 2013, on the feast of solemnity of Christ the King. As the year of faith closes, does it mean that our faith stops growing or our faith gets stagnated? With the closure of the year of faith, our faith that has grown in Christ through the year should be ever more vibrant and we need to work hard each day to keep our faith alive. We need to keep nurturing and growing in faith. One can never say that our faith has fully grown and there’s no need for more growth. There should always be room for more. In the previous articles on faith we discussed about the various aspects of faith and how to grow in faith through prayer, word of God, sacraments, etc. Faith is the core of Christianity, without faith our religion is empty or can barely exist. It is due to the faith of the Apostles and of the early Christians and of the great saints and martyrs of the church that our faith is still active and alive. It is our faith that we believe in the incarnation of Christ, in the passion and death of Christ and in the power and glory of the resurrection of Christ. It is in faith that we accept the mystery of the Holy Trinity; three persons and yet One God! Faith is a kind of word that cannot be fully explained even though there may be various definitions of faith. Faith can only be lived; experienced! Just reading about faith will not help us grow unless and until we begin to exercise our faith. At times we may be plunged into situations where our faith is tested; but unless and until tested it cannot grow. In the New Testament Jesus is searching for faith among his people. He can barely find faith in his hometown and therefore he could not perform miracles there. He could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their disbelief (Mk 6:5-6). Each town or village, wherever Jesus went, he performed great healings and miracles according to the faith of the people. Most of the miracles that Jesus performed spoke about ‘faith’. Before performing miracles Jesus tells the person to believe. When people came and informed the leader of the synagogue that his daughter had died, ‘why trouble the teacher any longer,’ they said. Jesus said to him, “do not fear, only believe” (Mk 5:35ff)...he believed and his daughter was brought back to life. Similar situations keep happening in our life too. When we are caught in difficult situations, when we face trials, troubles, hardships, we go through rough and tough time and we find no solution to our problem.... At such moments Jesus tells us the same, “do not fear, only believe.” But how much are we ready to believe? Are we ready to place that problem into His hands knowing that he is in complete control of it? This is our Christian faith; at such moments in life our faith is exercised. The gospels are full of faith filled incidences; faith is the centre, the heart, the very core of our religion. Similarly the woman suffering from haemorrhage for twelve years had great faith in Jesus, she not only wanted to touch Jesus but she believed that even the hem of the Lord’s garment could heal her. (Mk 5:25ff). Her faith was great! Jesus realized that someone had touched his cloak and when the woman came trembling before Jesus in fear, Jesus said to her, “daughter your faith has made you well”. It was her faith that made her well. How could she receive healing if she had gone to Jesus with doubts instead of faith? Most of the time when we pray for healings do we believe and pray with faith, or do we pray and yet doubt if we really will be healed? How can we expect our prayers to be answered when we pray without faith? We need to have faith to receive our healings. Jesus is always ready to heal but how much faith do we have? Another woman of great faith is the gentile woman whose daughter was possessed by demon (Mt 15:21ff). Jesus commends her faith by saying, “woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” On seeing her faith Jesus at once granted her heart’s desire... when he said; let it be done for you as you wish. She received such a wonderful reward by the Lord for her faith! Her daughter was healed instantly. Can we also receive healing instantly? We need to ask ourselves, how great is our faith? Jesus meets the centurion whose faith is amazing (Mt 8:5ff). When the centurion tells Jesus that he is not worthy to receive Jesus into his home, but only to say the word and his servant will be healed. Jesus is amazed at such faith and says, “Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith” (Mt 8:10). And what is the result of his marvellous faith? Jesus says to him, “Go; let it be done for you according to your faith” (Mt 8:13). He receives his reward according to his faith; his wish is granted; his servant was healed in that very hour. Throughout the gospels we read about amazing healings due to the faith of the people. Faith is needed not only for physical healings but faith is very much needed for our salvation. Jesus said, “Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life” (Jn 6:47). St. Paul in his letter to the Romans tells us, “if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom 10:9). We are saved through our faith in Jesus Christ. In the gospel of John, Jesus explains about His relationship with His Father. The Father has sent His Son to give us life and whoever believes in Him has eternal life. “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life” (Jn 3:36). Without faith and belief how can we receive eternal life? And what is our Christian life? It is purely a faith journey. We are called to walk in faith; and we are walking towards something which we have never seen and yet we are walking towards it, to attain it... only because of our faith in Jesus. We have not seen the heavenly glory and we cannot even imagine how it is going to be, for our human imagination cannot fathom heavenly glory. But we certainly know the One who leads us to that place, the One who had prepared the place for us, is waiting there to receive us, that’s our Christian faith. Our faith journey can never end, it is an ongoing process. It is a process of growing in love with the Lord, a process of deepening our relationship with Christ. The deeper our relationship with the Lord, stronger will be our faith. Even as the ‘year of faith’ comes to an end, our faith journey continues to grow and keeps growing. “Hear with your heart, see with your soul, be guided by a hand that you cannot hold, trust even if you cannot see. That’s how faith must be.” - John Paul II Josephine Fernandes