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12/28/2008
ReadingsGenesis 15:1-6; 21:1-3
Hebrews 11:8, 11-12, 17-19
Luke 2:22-40
The Scriptures are the story of faith. Faith is the required ingredient for service to the Lord. Faith is the “sixth sense” which propels one to action when the five natural senses do not comprehend the way forward. “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). But faith is not the result of hard work or effort, it is the gift of God to which we are called to respond. “Faith is a personal act - the free response of the human person to the initiative of God who reveals himself” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 166). And God rewards the one who accepts this gift of faith: “Abram put his faith in the LORD, who credited it to him as an act of righteousness” (Genesis 15:6).
It was in an environment of faith that our Lord was born and entered our world.
It was by faith that Simeon trusted in the Lord – trusted that the coming of the Messiah would be made manifest to him. Although there was no outward evidence of the Lord’s coming, he believed that God would fulfill His promise to reveal the Christ to him. By faith Simeon, where others would see just another baby boy from a poor family, recognized the Messiah.
It was by faith that Anna waited for the promised Savior. She trusted that her fasting and prayer would not go unanswered, and at long last she could praise God for His salvation in a little babe. God answered her prayers and revealed His Holy One to her in her final days.
It was by faith that Joseph believed the words of a dream, and that he accepted that his betrothed had become the mother of his Lord. It was by faith that Joseph heeded the warning of another dream. God revealed to him the danger of a mad ruler, and he immediately took to flight, protecting his savior and his wife.
It was by faith that Mary accepted the unfathomable – that the Holy Spirit would overshadow her and she would conceive her God. It was by faith that she assented, “May it be done to me according to your word.”
It was by faith that Mary and Joseph went back to Galilee, to the town of Nazareth. They believed the promises of God, that this little boy would be the salvation of Israel and all the world. Through them, he “advanced in wisdom and favor.”
It is by faith that a family welcomes new life into its midst, trusting that God will provide regardless of the circumstances. It is by faith that a family opens itself to the will of God, following it wherever it may lead. By faith the most ordinary of families, like the family of Mary and Joseph, can become a truly Holy Family.
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