Beati Oculi Vestri [Blessed are your eyes]

15th Sunday of Ordinary Time

July 13, 2014

BLESSED ARE YOUR EYES, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. We, who gather at the table of the Lord today are but twenty percent of the one in six people in the world who have been baptised into the Catholic faith. Faith is indeed a gift from God but what we do with the seed of faith once it is planted in our hearts is entirely up to us. Whilst the Holy Spirit continues to work through the Church and her people, there is no let up and in fact a marked increase in secular rhetoric that seeks to undermine any and all belief systems, preferring to exalt the god of self with the litany of sins that such an existence brings.

Today, in the Parable of the Sower, the Lord gives us an opportunity to reflect upon the state of our own faith. Just what is the state of the faith even among the twenty percent of us who faithfully go to church every week? We can perhaps be grateful that our seed of faith has not fallen upon the path but that does not necessarily mean that our faith is in a healthy state.

If our hearts are of stone then for sure the seed of faith will not have a chance to put down solid roots. The Lord gives us a clear description of the results of faith that lacks the soil to grow roots: "As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away” [Mt.13:20-21]. Sometimes life events might trigger a need for hope, which faith is apt to provide but when the situation subsides the first fervour is forgotten and the flame of faith slowly dies. There are many things that can attract people to Catholicism; external things like the compassion of our priests, the authenticity and history of our teaching, and the outer beauty of our liturgy and churches. These externals are a great pull factor but if faith is not internalised and propagated, then, when the novelty wears off (as it does with new phones, new cars, and practically new anything), faith withers. Then there are those who come to church out of habit or obligation but do not live the faith outside the walls of the church. They might meet the bare minimum requirement of arriving at Mass before the Gospel and then leaving immediately after communion, but they have abandoned all other expressions of faith. They are most in need of the fellowship of the parish community, to help foster growth in faith, but they keep themselves on the fringes of parish life, where their faith languishes in the shadows. Obligation may not seem like an altogether bad reason to attend Mass, but with the passing of time, these people too will drift away from the faith.

And what of those whose faith is stronger but choked by thorns? There are many temptations and distractions that would shift our focus from God, both within our church communities and in the world beyond. Secular self-indulgence and even other religions that seemingly offer a more comfortable fit for our lifestyles and preferences may spring-up and lure us away from our faith. When the Lord speaks of “the delight in riches” [Mt.13:22] it is not just the temptation of material gain that he warns against. The desire for praise and the riches of acclaim are an unwelcome distraction from the focal point of church life, which should be God. Cliques and elite groups abound within the lay ministries, where seemingly strong faith finds pleasure in the seeking of fame or notoriety. Like the seed planted among thorns, faith stands little chance to grow before it gets caught-up in worldly concerns and suffocated.

It might appear that faith is fickle and hard to cultivate but it is always our action or inaction that stunts the seed’s growth. Faith cannot be lost in the way we might lose a wallet or our keys. It’s not about being forgetful or careless. To ‘lose faith’ there has to be a conscious action to discard it; to discard the very explicit teaching of Christ himself on how to propagate it. The “good soil” of which Jesus speaks in the Parable of the Sower is the Word of God and “he who hears the word and understands it; he indeed bears fruit” [Mt.13:23]. Whatever first called us to the faith, and however the seed of faith was first planted in our hearts, we must constantly seek to root it firmly in the good soil of the Scriptures. Prayer, of course is vital, but like many externalised expressions of faith, even prayer can become rote and devoid of the true understanding of the faith that we are called to embrace. The conscious act of reading or listening to the Word of God, however, is a practice that can only ever lead to spiritual growth and a blossoming of faith. Whether through more frequent attendance at Mass, to participate in the Liturgy of the Word and to internalise the Word through Holy Communion; or by developing a practice of following the daily scripture readings in the Missal; or even by setting aside time each day to read and contemplate a random verse of scripture; regular turning to the Word of God will nourish your faith because it is the means by which God speaks to us in every situation (be it good or bad) that we find ourselves in.

And there will be bad times. Our faith is no cure-all or talisman against misfortune. Our faith is more powerful than that. Some might tell you that their gods can protect and bring luck. People might pray and when the luck they seek does not come, or when obstacles in life are not removed, they move on to the next, more powerful deity. But as Christians living the faith, we are “strong in the Lord and the power of his might” [Ephesians 6:10]. We know that life is more than a numbers game and the next cutthroat step up the corporate ladder. We know that our God does not send us trials to hold us to ransom for prayers and offerings. Trials are of this world; how we deal with these trials is witness to the world to come “[f]or our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” [2 Corinthians 4:17].

Strong in faith and armed with the Gospel of Christ and the counsel of his Spirit we must aspire to face adversity with the charity, love and hope we have been given through our faith – A charity that that finds expression in tolerance and kindness, even of those who seek to harm us. A love of neighbour (even the not so nice ones) that emulates “the kind of mercy and grace that our Saviour showed those who were crucifying him” [James 1:17]. A love of God that is unfailing, even through personal tragedy, and endures even as God’s love endures for us despite our failings. And a hope that transcends mortal desires (“for who hopes for what he sees? [Romans 8:24]) and keeps our souls’ gaze always on the Kingdom of God.

This is faith. Faith tempered by the endurance of suffering, in the name of Christ and with the strength of Christ, which lifts the human spirit to share in the divine. A faith that shines as an unshakable testament to our God for the world to see.

When we immerse ourselves in the Word of God and allow our faith to bear fruit, that is when we become evangelists in deed and word. It is this strength of faith through both the joys and pains of life, which finds expression in our demeanour and the way we live, that will be the rallying call of the communion of the saints militant – a call to live, day-by-day, in the joy of the Gospel. For as the Holy Father says, “[i]t is not by proselytising that the Church grows, but ‘by attraction’” [Evangelii Gaudium,  §15]. We shall each be known by the fruits that our seed of faith bears. Let us, then, constantly seek to nourish our faith “on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” [Mt.4:4], that our faith may grow stronger, like the seed planted in good soil, and bear the fruit of the true joy that only Christ can give and, indeed, has already given in the Good News of salvation. And may our joy be a magnetic witness to our faith, which calls back to us our brothers and sisters who have drifted from the faith and all those who seek and desire the joy of being loved by God.