Two Worlds Collide

Understanding the central importance of faith

10/02/2022

Lk 17:5-10 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." The Lord replied, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. "Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, 'Come here immediately and take your place at table'? Would he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished'? Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded? So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.'"

There is one central experience or axis around which every Christian’s life revolves, and that is faith. And it is this axis of faith that makes all Christian life possible and worth living. Think about how the earth revolves around a central axis. What would happen if the earth suddenly stopped spinning around that axis? Life on earth would come to a catastrophic end. This planet would become a lifeless rock, like the moon, which takes 27 days to make one full revolution. So, too, if a Christian’s life stops revolving around the central experience of faith, we would become a spiritually lifeless rock. In other words, faith makes a Christian’s world go around.

Now, we all experience faith in different ways, like how no two people fall in love the same way. Nonetheless, the Catechism of the Catholic Church begins by describing the common denominator in all faith experiences, namely, man’s search for God meeting God’s search for man. That explosive encounter of man and God is like two stars colliding and creating a whole new world. That explosive encounter is what Christians call faith. Let me share with you my first experience of faith as a small child, so you have a concrete idea of what I mean.

When I was seven years old my family left India and came to the United States. To be honest, that was a very traumatic experience for little Fr. John. It felt to me like I lost everything I had known overnight: my friends, my neighborhood, my elementary school, my favorite food, my music, my home and my bedroom. My little seven year old self felt like my whole world stopped spinning.

But at the same time, out of that black hole of total loss, escaped one ray of light, namely, the light of faith. How so? Well, I discovered that even though I felt like I lost everything, there was One Thing that I would never lose, that is, God. The God who created me and loved me in New Delhi, India would be the same God who loved and sustained me in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

And that same God would hold me in his hands if one day I ended up on the moon or on Mars. In other words, that explosive experience of losing everything but gaining God also sparked my faith life, and my life has revolved around that central axis of faith ever since. In other words, one day I may lose all of you (and I will), and all of this (and I will), but I will never lose God. That unshakeable conviction of faith makes my world go around today and it always will.

Did you notice how all three Scripture readings today touched on the theme of faith? For instance, the first reading from Habakkuk said: “The rash one has no integrity; but the just one because of his FAITH shall live.” That is, faith gives life. In the second reading from Second Timothy, St. Paul wrote: “Take as your norm the sound words that you heard from me, in the FAITH and love that are in Christ Jesus.” Faith should be a Christian’s norm and standard.

And finally in the gospel, the apostles beg the Lord, “Increase our FAITH.” The apostles want their lives to revolve around faith more than anything else. In other words, the whole Scripture, both Old and New Testament, speak about the centrality of faith for every believer. Faith is the axis around which your life must revolve, or your world will spin out of control.

Now, here is the last thing I want to tell you about faith, and it is perhaps the most important feature of faith. Faith is ultimately a gift that God gives us. So that means you cannot earn it by working hard to believe, like you earn a higher salary by working hard at your job. You cannot buy it like we buy things at the store, no matter how much money you spend for it. Indeed, sometimes the poor have more faith than the rich do.

And you cannot learn it by reading books about faith, no matter how eloquent or erudite the author may be. Instead, faith is like a Christmas present. And all you can do is open your hands, wait on God, and hope you get faith as a gift from God, better than any gift you get from Santa Claus. That is why all the apostles could do in the gospel was pray “Lord, increase our faith.” Pray for faith, wait for faith, and hope for faith. That is the only way to “increase our faith.”

My friends, take time today – indeed, take time every day – to reflect on when you first received the gift of faith. When your search for God met God’s search for you, and two worlds collided and created your new Christian world. Perhaps it was a traumatic experience that taught you the truth of faith, like I learned it as a little boy, like the trauma of cancer, or a divorce, or an early death of a child.

Or perhaps you met someone whose genuine Christian life inspired you so much you opened your heart to the gift of faith from God. Or, maybe you grew up in a devout Christian family where faith was in the air you breathe, the water you drink, and as plain as the nose on your face. You don’t have to see your nose to know it is there. Faith is like that, you don’t have to see to believe.

And there are many other experiences of faith, as diverse as Christians themselves. But the common denominator in every case is our search for God (sometimes we don’t even know we’re looking for him) meeting God’s search for us. Faith is when two world collide, and a new Christian world is created, and revolves around the central axis of faith. And by the way, if your world is not revolving around faith, what is it revolving around? And don’t say “college football” because that’s not the right answer.

Praised be Jesus Christ!