CHRISTMAS WEEKDAY – THURSDAY, JANUARY 05

Living Faith and Loving Action

(1 Jn 3:11-21; Ps 100; Jn 1:43-51)

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A fellow was hiking in the mountains when he fell over a cliff. Halfway down the face of the mountain, he luckily managed to grab hold of a branch with both hands that stopped his fall. Suspended between heaven and earth, he looked up and saw he had fallen a long way. He looked down and saw he could have fallen a much longer distance – the people below looked like ants. In desperation he called out for help. A loud voice responded, “Yes, what do you want?” The man asked who that was and the voice replied, “I am God.” “If you are God, can you get me out of here?” asked the man. The voice replied, “Yes I can – have faith, let go of the branch, and I will take you to safety.” The man looked up and saw how far he had fallen; looked down and saw how far it was to the road below, tried to let go of the branch, and finally cried out, “Is there anybody else up there?”

That humorous story serves to introduce the message from today’s readings: put your complete faith in Jesus, and express that faith through loving action and joyful praise.

The gospel provides us with two shining examples of faith in Jesus – Philip and Nathaniel. Philip is quick to recognize, and believe in Jesus as the one whom Moses and the prophets spoke and wrote about. For his part, Nathaniel, once he overcame his negative attitude towards Nazareth, makes an amazing act of faith in Jesus as Son of God and King of Israel. In doing so, he ranks right up there with Peter (“You are the Messiah” – Mark 8) and Martha (“Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world” – John 11). That Philip and Nathaniel came to this belief in Jesus so quickly should encourage us to place our total faith and trust in Jesus.

Four of the Steps of the 12 Step program are all about faith (“Came to believe” – 2; “surrendered my life and will to God” – 3; “humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings” – 7, and “daily prayer and meditation, seeking only the knowledge of God’s will for us” – 11).

St John, in the first reading, very clearly instructs us about how to express our faith – we are to love one another, to the point of laying down our lives for each other. St. Mother Theresa of Calcutta did exactly that, as she lived out her own teaching (“What you would like to do for Jesus, whom you cannot see, do it to the person next to you, whom you can see, and you will be doing it to Jesus.” That is faith in action.

One of the key elements of the 12 Step program is Service which follows immediately after Recovery and Unity. Step 12 reads, “Having had a spiritual experience as the result of working these steps, we carry this message to others.”  Many would say the best way to keep sobriety is to give it away. Some insist that as soon as one has been through the Steps, they should find another person they can sponsor. Winston Churchill once said, “We make a life by what we get; we make a living by what we give away.”

Finally, the psalm adds another expression of faith in God – joyful praise: “Enter his courts with praise and thanksgiving; make a joyful noise to the Lord, and let all the earth cry out with joy” is almost a command. Certainly, joyful praise is a sure sign of deep faith in the love of God for us, and the joy that flows from laying down our lives for others.

Recently, some persons who are in very difficult financial situations and in desperate straits have approached me for help. I had given some money to one such person years ago, but when he got laid off, he returned for more help.

As I prayed about this, I got an idea that came with a great deal of joy – to start a fund that I would name Serene Hope. This organization would raise funds to offer interest free loans to those in great need, which would give them hope and some serenity. The recipients would make a commitment to contribute 5% of the original loan to help others, once they were back on their feet and able to do so. This would give them dignity, as it was not charity but also an opportunity to help others, and would also give joy to those who help raise the funds, even if their contribution never gets paid back.

Over the past year, the generosity of donors enabled the fund to help G. return to Africa for the funeral of his father and reunion with his family; B. move from incarceration to treatment for his addiction; J. obtain a computer for a charitable organization he was founding, and L. and S. avoid being evicted from their home due to identity theft. This fund has certainly been a source of joy for me, and an inspiration so far for others. Perhaps those who read this reflection might someday also be able to help. The fund is still going, but the policy has shifted – instead of paying back the full amount, I am simply asking for a donation to help others, and the loan will be forgiven.

The Eucharist brings this all together: it is an act of faith in God’s love for us; it is an experience of that love; it is an act of joyful praise for that love, and it is also a commitment to live out the Eucharist by acts of love and laying down our lives for others, especially those most in need.

So, let us place our complete faith in Jesus as Messiah, Son of God and King of Israel like Philip, Nathaniel, Peter and Martha, and then express that faith through lives of loving action and joyful praise