“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” These words, taken from today’s Second Reading, form my favorite definition of what it means to have faith, and to trust in God. They remind us that faith often requires us to take the next step, even when we can’t see where the road is going to lead us, or how the journey will end. Faith enables us to trust in God’s guidance, and to believe that he will help us to arrive safely at our destination, even though the path to that destination may not always seem clear.
What keeps us from responding in faith to God’s promises? I think that we have a tendency to think that unbelief is the culprit: that a person who doesn’t set out in faith doesn’t believe the words that God has spoken. However, that isn’t necessarily true. Many people who possess faith can often feel paralyzed when God is calling them to do something. Fear about where the journey might lead sets in and causes the person to “stay put” instead of responding in faith to God’s promptings. Fear is the opposite of faith, and it is fear that can keep us from following God. Recognizing this leaves us with an important question: how can we move from fear to faith?
This desire to move from fear to faith is perhaps best summed up in a prayer written by Thomas Merton, which reads: “My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”
Please keep me in your prayers this week, as I will be on retreat. Know that you will be in my prayers as well.
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Steven Huber, CSB