“Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” Saint Paul provides us with actually one of the few explicit definitions of faith in the bible. However, this very definition illustrates a long-standing internal conflict that we are subject to. We are in part physical beings, that have a frequent struggle with accepting the things we cannot detect or define with our physical senses. Yet that is only half of our makeup. We are children of God and have within us that connected lineage and its fruits, which include senses that we do not always understand how to use or interpret. This struggle is part of the condition we endure because of “the fall” from our original human parents. They initially enjoyed, what we hope to one day regain – perfect intimacy with and understanding of God our Father. Yet from the beginning, there was free will, as God did not create us to be automatons, but rather creatures that were truly capable of love, which by definition involves choice. Sadly, that initial choice resulted in the struggles that we deal with even today.
God, in His providence and planning, did not leave us without both resources and a path toward regaining what was initially intended. We maintain the spark of the divine, of our original nature, within ourselves even today. This spark is what makes us the somewhat paradoxical creatures I was alluding to earlier. We are humans with physical senses and predispositions toward defining everything through them. However, because we also carry that divine spark, we have equally prevalent inclinations (if we listen to them) toward things that are not defined through the physical, and that we frankly cannot explain through those senses, though we often, unfortunately, try to confine our understanding of them within that context. You see, each of us comes hard-wired with a desire to understand, and to seek what cannot be completely explained through our physical senses – God. Even if we cannot completely articulate it, the desire is there. Moreover, each of us has a unique set of additional senses and a presence that defy a purely physical or what we like to term “scientific” explanation. We have an innate sense of right and wrong that is universal across humanity. The same characteristics of what is seen as desirable in a person are virtually uniform in almost every society despite their possibly never having been an interaction between them. We possess senses that defy current scientific explanation. From the simple example of being able to sense someone staring at you from across the room without even looking, to the well-documented cases during times of conflict of family or friends knowing that something has befallen a loved one in battle, right down to the very second that it happened. Even the animals can sense our difference, did you ever ask yourself why animals react so differently to us, then they do to other animals. A large dog or cat can walk through a yard, and while the birds might keep an eye on them, they don’t scatter. However, if even a small child walks through the same yard, they usually take flight. Did you ever ask yourself why that is? They sense the spark that is within us, that makes us different.
So, our nature has two conflicting components, a primal physical self, and our spirit that still carries the fingerprint of God. Throughout secular and biblical history, we have struggled with these two natures. Abraham and Sara though initially skeptical made the leap of faith, and a nation was born. Abraham went even farther and placing all his faith in God was willing to sacrifice that which he loved intensely because he trusted that God could put anything right and that nothing was beyond Him. We are called to do the same, to use the side of our nature that connects us to God, and to accept Him on faith, and to act accordingly. This is our continual challenge, and why we are here in this life. We need to stay vigilant, and to accept more than what our physical senses can perceive, and to not be found wanting at the crucial hour when we meet our Lord. We need to listen to the inner sense that tells us when we are getting ready to stray from what God would want of us. We need to accept the more difficult paths and help our brothers and sisters even when it places a burden upon us. If we listen to that quiet voice that is within, and not drown it out with distraction or focus on self, we will succeed. On the other hand, if we are content to numb ourselves with distraction or other vices, and focus only on the pleasures of the here and now, then we have received our reward, and it should be no surprise to us that there is nothing to look forward to when we are judged.
Every person sitting here, and every person we meet, from the lowliest to the highest in society, is a child of God and was created in His image, right down to that divine essence that creates that spark. The man on the street corner sleeping on cardboard has no less importance in Gods eyes than the man sitting in the boardroom, and it should be so with us if we will use our other eyes, the ones that are truly the window to the soul, to look at them, and then to hopefully treat them as brothers. This is hard, because one half of our self is always telling us to move on, and that it’s not our problem or a headache we need right now. There are a million and one reasons we can come up with to focus only on ourselves and those close to us, and they will all fit through a very wide door, but that door is not the one we want to enter. Our door of choice needs to be the one that is so small and narrow, that it is almost without notice to our senses, but it is very plain to our soul. Now here is the real challenge, as Catholics, we have the benefit of an even greater level of understanding of God’s teachings, because we have an unbroken lineage that takes us back to the time that Christ spent on earth. We are privy to that which was taught and maintained in both the written word of God in the gospels, but also to the oral knowledge that was passed down and manifested as tradition within the early Church. We are the ONLY ones that have this unbroken line, and so we are privileged with this, and the expectations of us are commensurately higher. “To whom much has been given, much will be expected”. That’s ok, we are well armed for this challenge if we use the gifts given us and pay attention to what He has taught us. Then all we have to do is be vigilant, and act. God will never set us up to fail.
The Deacons Bench 