FAKALOTOLAHI KI HE AHO NI...... True faith gives us the satisfaction of turning our failures into victories. Today’s Readings: Galatians 3:1-5 R/ PSALMLuke 1:(68)69-75 Luke 11:5-13 Receiving and spreading true faith St. Paul delivers a raised-eyebrow tirade in today’s first reading. The Galatians are piously sitting there, all neatly lined up in their pews, obediently attending Mass, having blessed themselves with holy water at the door and then genuflecting when they passed the Tabernacle on their way to claiming the same seats that they’ve used every week. As Paul preaches the homily, their minds are planning the chores that must get done before going back to work on Monday. Oops. Thats not Galatia. My mind slipped forward about 2000 years. Wouldnt it be great if Paul came to our churches today to address the pew-warmers who do little more for the parish than arrive at church with their self-satisfied religiousness? Wouldnt you just love to see him startle them out of their complacency with a loud: My good people have you gone out of your minds? Doing everything the right way is wrong without true faith, i.e., without a deep, abiding love for God and for everyone else (everyone, yes, even ex-spouses, irritating bosses, and politicians who don’t really care about your religious freedoms). Doing everything the right way by obeying Church rules without love is legalism, and to the legalists Paul says: How could you be so stupid? Okay, so he has no tact. Today’s Gospel passage tells us how to receive true faith. The parable is not an invitation to ask for all the stuff we want. Whoever asks, receives is immediately followed by what were guaranteed to receive: the Holy Spirit. If we have Gods Spirit living within us, then we want only that which is holy and good, so of course well only ask for whatever God wants us to receive, and then of course well get it – including true faith (see 1 Cor. 12:9). Its very easy to practice the faith legalistically when we dont have a lively, active, dependent relationship with the Holy Spirit. Gods Spirit is what makes our faith real and turns our obedience of Church laws into acts of love. Why did Jesus use the example of asking for bread? Because Jesus is the Bread of Life and he wants us to be distributors of this bread. We all know people who are hungry for true faith. If we do not let the Holy Spirit transform us into the Eucharistic Bread of Life that we receive at Mass, we cannot go out and share Jesus with others: Our faith is inadequate to satisfy their hunger, and we dont have enough Jesus in us to lead them to conversion. Legalism gives us nothing more than the satisfaction of knowing that weve been obedient. This only feeds us until we fail. True faith gives us the satisfaction of turning our failures into victories, increasing Gods holiness within us. Let us knock again and ask for more of the Holy Spirits life in our lives – this door will be opened! OFA LAHI ATU PEA MOE LOTU....
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 23:49:33 +0000
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