- The Homily for October 3 is in the Library->
- The readings for this coming Sunday are at usccb.org ->
- I am presiding at 4:00pm (10/9) and 8:00am(10/10)
How do we get there from here?
Last week's homily concerned the quality or level of our faith (deficient, inefficient, sufficient) and the call to NOT be satisfied with our faith as it was but to grow our faith from an ember to a raging fire that it might be efficient for the mission - leading all people to the Kingdom.
After Mass someone asked me, "yes, but how?" I believe that the journey of the Samaritan and the Syrian lepers in our first and gospel readings shows us the steps necessary to "grow our faith".
The first step on the road to deeper faith is humility....one must know and acknowledge that something is wrong, broken, sick, incomplete, flawed. Like the leper we cannot deny and we cannot hide that we are afflicted.
The second step is that we must be teachable - we must desire the healing of our lack of faith. The slave girl in the first reading was the unsuspecting vehicle for leading her master to faith. Can we hear the Lord's Word or His invitation in the unlikely places (our children, our spouse, our enemy?)?
The third step is obedience to the instruction of those who can heal us, teach us, direct us, guide us....even when we don't understand or appreciate the instruction.
The fourth step is the re-orientation of our lives to the truth of our new-found faith - that is - the "true worship of God". Like the Syrian and the Samaritan, we have to go back to God "anew". This turn about demands a new level of commitment. This demand is probably what kept us away in the first place. So this fourth step is part of the next "first step" that we will eventually take. We are never done growing in faith!
If we want to increase our faith - we need to acknowledge our weakness, recognize the call from God, be obedient to those who can lead us, and be open to new levels of commitment to God in our lives. This will fan the flames of faith in our hearts into a raging fire to light up the world.
