Faith in God ‘in Time’ or ‘within Time’?

 

As we celebrate the feast of holy family, the readings of today invite us to focus on our ‘faith in God.’ In the first reading (Gen 15:1-6; 21:1-3) we have the narration of Abrahams’ (Abram’s) faith in God with regard to the birth of his son Isaac, the second reading (Heb 11:8, 11-12, 17-19) serve as the commentary for the first reading and in the gospel (Lk 2:22-40) we witness the religious faithfulness of Mary and Joseph, the faith of Simeon and prophetess Anna.

The faith of Abraham

Abraham believed in the promise of God that he will get an offspring of his own flesh and blood (Gen 15:4) to be his heir. Though his human reasoning made him and his wife Sarah to belittle the promise as they are growing old in age, still they believed in the Lord that in some way the Lord God will make things happen, because what is unthinkable for human and impossible in human calculations are not the same with God. This is proved to be ture in the life of Abraham, as his wife conceived and bore a son Isaac in her old age. Again our human logic may tempt us to consider the fulfillment of this promise as ‘delayed act’ from the side of God. It is not delayed act. God promised Abraham an offspring of his own but did not restrict the promise to certain time. Abraham as human being, subjected to time and space had sufficient reason to disapprove the promise but he did not do so. Rather, he transcended his human incapacities and trusted in God that all things will be made possible in God as He is in control of everything. This is the faith we need to hold on during the time of trial.

Our faith and trust in God should not be on the basis of human logic. We look towards God’s intervention especially during the time of trial and tribulation. We seek Him especially in those moments of distress and despair because we believe in Him that although all the possibilities from human side are gone still all things will be made possible by Him, because He is in control of everything. Therefore, our faith is God should focus on the fulfillment of God’s promise and help. Our petition to God should lead us to believe that He will hear our prayers in time not within certain time. If we focus on ‘when’ and ‘how’ will that happen, we will end up in questioning our faith and removing our trust from the Lord.

The Faithfulness of Mary and Joseph

Mary and Joseph were devout Jews. They fulfilled the requirements of the Jewish law as they presented the child in the temple. The child also grew in faith, became strong and filled with wisdom. All this happened because of the dutiful parenthood of Mary and Joseph. In the family father and mother are the first catechism teachers. Family is the domestic church where children grow in faith and discover their vocation in life. The feast of holy family invites each parent to look up to Mary and Joseph who not only took tcare of the material needs of their child Jesus but also held themselves responsible for the spiritual welfare of the child.  In the digital era, we are busy with giving the best to our children, at the same time are we also envisioning and making efforts to make our children the best human being in future society and good catholic in the church? Mary and Joseph were successful parents because their child Jesus who enjoyed their parenthood became best person in the roman colonized society and good religious person in the Jewish religion.

The Fruitfulness of the Faith of Simeon and Anna

Like Abraham in the first reading two persons in the gospel; Simeon and Anna had complete faith in God that they will witness the visitation of the Lord to Israel. And so, they were granted the privilege of seeing the messiah. Their faith bore fruit. Although they were nearing their death time, they did not doubt their faith concerning seeing the messiah.

Faith and trust in each other is the primary requirement for the family life. Today there are lots of misunderstandings and doubts within couples, parents and children in the family due to the advent of digital platforms. The feast of holy family invites us to place complete faith and trust on each other in the family. It will be possible only if we have faith and trust in God. Our faith in God will lead us to trust each other in the family and others in the society at large. Faith is not overlooking doubts and tolerating misunderstanding rather it removes them completely. For where there is faith there is openness and dialogue. This openness and dialogue remove all misunderstanding and doubts.  Thus, Holy family is still an epitome for family life.  

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