Faith = Trust

 

Deacon Dave · Faith = Trust

Homily for the 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time, June 23, 2024. Gospel of St. Mark 4:35-41. Theme: Faith = Trust 

 Not everything that Jesus said or did was recorded for us in each one of the four gospels. You see, each evangelist (gospel-writer) passed on the meaning and message of Jesus with a particular emphasis that spoke to the needs and and circumstances of his particular Christian community. 

• Matthew’s version, composed for Jewish converts to Christianity, makes significant reference to the Old Testament and includes a comparison of the Jewish Torah to the teachings of Jesus, As a teaching document it is the longest of the four. 
• Mark, on the other hand, is a fast-paced retelling of the story of Jesus. He omits the Lord’s birth and childhood, focusing instead on the adult Christ's power and divinity. He was writing for a Roman community that was on the move and under persecution and so his version is short and to the point. 
• Luke, a highly educated man, approached his gospel with the dedication of an investigative journalist and he tells us this right at the start. He was also the only Gentile evangelist and so he highlights how Jesus came as Savior for all people and not just as the Messiah for Israel. His beloved stories and parables feature those who were looked down upon in Judaism such shepherds, lepers, women, Samaritans and public sinners. 
• John composed his gospel long after the other three, finishing it towards the end of the first century AD. This gave him many decades during which to meditate on Jesus' words and miracles and so delve deeper into their message and meaning. And since he lived long enough to see the liturgy develop, his gospel teaches us about the spiritual gifts of Baptism, Eucharist and Confession. 

 And so it is that we find some teachings and stories about Jesus in this or that Gospel, and other words and miracles of his in another. Once in a while we find the same event in all four and when we do, it means we really need to pay attention and learn from it. And that’s exactly the case in today’s Liturgy which recounts for us the miracle of Jesus calming the stormy sea. Now, why was it that this story became of such great meaning and importance? Because at the time the gospels were written (60-90 AD) the fledgling Christian community was being harassed and persecuted in various ways. The deacon St. Stephen had been martyred by militant Jews and the apostle St. James the Greater had been beheaded by order of King Herod. The Jerusalem Christians were migrating to other parts of the Empire but then bloody persecution broke out in Rome itself and there were few safe places to hide or live. And so the various Church communities needed assurance that the Risen Lord Jesus was not “asleep in the boat” but still in charge and would rescue them from all the dangers swirling around them. 

 They found comfort and hope in the words that Jesus spoke to the frightened disciples in today’s Gospel, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” He is in effect asking them if they still do not yet recognize who he really is? And if they do, don’t they realize that they can trust in him? The disciples believed that Christ could do all sorts of amazing and powerful things for they had seen him expelling demons, cleansing lepers, restoring sight to the blind, and even raising the dead. And yet...they panic and falter. It hasn’t all really sunk in yet. They haven't opened their hearts to trust in him but only their minds to be amazed by him. Aren't we like that as well? Even though we have experienced how God powerfully has worked in our lives and helped us in so many ways don’t we too...panic and falter? Jesus is basically asking them - and through this story asking us as well - to make the transition from belief to faith. 

 Faith and Belief are related but not they are not identical. We have faith in a person based on how well we know them and the positive experiences we have had with them. We describe this kind of faith with the word, "trust". Belief, on the other hand, is not at all personal or relational. Rather, it’s the assent of our intellect to things that have been proven to be logical or at least simply accepted-as-true. So we can say that while belief is a matter of the mind, faith is a matter of the heart. But often we mistakenly use these words interchangeably. And doing so can mislead us into thinking that we have a faith-relationship with Christ when what we might really have is simply an intellectual assent to some basic facts about him. It's a matter of “knowing Jesus” (faith) or just “knowing about Jesus” (belief). 

 Let’s use the Creed at Mass for an example. When we stand to "profess our faith" by reciting a series of Christian doctrines we are vocalizing our belief in what we have been taught about Jesus and Christianity. If that is the extent to which the Creed makes an impression in our lives then we’re simply reciting religious statements and nothing more. Anyone can say those words. But, if the Creed flows from the conviction of our hearts that Jesus is indeed risen and alive, that he is active and present in our lives today, then these words become an outward expression of interior faith. And in such a case the Creed becomes a privileged moment when both our head and our heart embrace to give praise and worship to God. 

 No matter who we are, where we live, or what our situation might be, stuff happens in life that threatens our happiness and can challenge our relationships. Situations arise that can cause us to panic and falter. And so we all need to know the love and power of Christ from lived-experience in order for our intellectual belief to mature into a trusting faith. Like those disciples we, too, need to personally rediscover and experience Jesus as alive and present to us NOW and he wants us to have this experience, but we need to first give him permission to do so in our lives. It is ours for the asking IF we truly want it. We just need to ask with expectation, which is another form of trust, and it will be ours, for Jesus himself said, "Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you..." (Mt 7:7)