DAILY HOMILIES #faith

The Transfiguration was an eye-opening experience for Peter, James, and John that convinced them beyond doubt and strengthened their Faith. This experience can be likened to the case of Thomas after touching Jesus’ resurrected body. “My Lord and my God.” (John 20:26). After witnessing the Transfiguration, Peter, in today’s Second Reading, confessed: “It was not any cleverly invented myths that we were repeating when we brought you the knowledge and power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:16).

Despite her brother’s death, Martha still had faith in Jesus. She ran to welcome Him when she heard He was coming to her house. “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” (John 11:21-22). Inspired by such great faith, Jesus raised Lazarus to life. Do not give up on God when the going becomes tough. You do not know what God is planning for you.

Jairus believed that Jesus had the power to raise the dead to life, just as the woman suffering from the issue of blood believed that touching the fringe of Jesus’ garment could heal her. Do you believe there is a limit to what God can (or is willing) to do for you? Do you still think there are problems that prayer cannot solve? If God is our husband and we are his spouse, there is no limit to what He is willing to do to protect and provide for us.

What made the people hostile to Jesus? Was it that they did not recognise His superior wisdom? No. Their hostility was a result of their familiarity with Jesus. They took offence at Jesus because they knew him simply as the carpenter’s son; they did not recognise His Divinity. Unlike Jairus, who fell on his feet in worship before Jesus (while asking for his daughter’s healing), these people considered Jesus an impostor.

Inspired by their faith, some persons brought a paralysed man to Jesus. Matthew reports that Jesus ‘saw’ their faith. This means faith in God is visible in our actions before or after praying. A certain village experienced drought for some years. The elders met and decided the entire village would gather in the market square on a certain day to pray for rain. As they were about to begin the prayer, they noticed that only one little girl came with an umbrella. They had all come to pray for rain, but only this girl was expecting rain.

Like Thomas, there are moments when we feel like asking God to prove Himself, to show us something, to answer our prayers in a particular way, or to work some dramatic miracle to make us believe again in His power. In such moments, we must listen again to Jesus’ statement to Thomas: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” (John 20:29). God doesn’t need to prove Himself repeatedly to gain our trust or make us believe in him.

Like Thomas, there are moments when we feel like asking God to prove Himself, to show us something, to answer our prayers in a particular way, or to work some dramatic miracle to make us believe again in His power. In such moments, we must listen again to Jesus’ statement to Thomas: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” (John 20:29). God doesn’t need to prove Himself repeatedly to gain our trust or make us believe in him.

Jesus, who could see from a distance what the disciples were facing at sea and walked towards them (Cf. Matthew 14:23-26), was fully aware of the storm even though he appeared to be sleeping. When it seems as if God is sleeping, that is precisely when we need to trust Him more because, at such moments, we are just being tested.

The psalmist sings: “Let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not.” The question is – why did they forget God in the first place? Why did they worship false gods? Like the Israelites, we are fond of asking, “Where is God?” in crisis, but while enjoying peace and success, we say: “Who is God?”

History is filled with examples of people who boasted of their strength and the power of their inventions, only to regret it later. The fact that you have been successful in the past does not give you the right to challenge God. You may not believe in the power of prayers or the possibility of divine intervention but do not insult those who still believe in God.

God allows calamity in our lives because we grow spiritually through trials (difficult moments). As someone once said: “I asked for strength, and God gave me difficulties to strengthen me. I asked for wisdom, and God gave me problems to solve. I asked for courage, and God gave me dangers to overcome. I asked for love, and God gave me troubled people to help.”

Jesus tells us that a man scatters the seed on the ground and goes to sleep only to see the seed growing. How this happens, he does not know. In other words, it is not for us to know how the Word works; all we have to do is scatter the seed and let God do the rest.