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Faith
Is an Explosion of Power
Fr. George Smiga
June 7-8, 2003
John
7:37-39
A woman
collared one of the salespersons in a large local bookstore
with a complaint. She said, "I keep coming in here to
buy books on the best seller list, and every time I come in
you're out of stock. I don't get it. You are a big national
chain. Haven't you heard of computers? They could help you
organize your inventory so that books would be accessible."
The clerk, somewhat irritated, said, "I'm sorry, ma'am,
that your book is not in stock, but we're very good at getting
books here quickly. Which book are you interested in?"
She said, "The book is called How to Lose Weight and
Grow in Beauty." "Well, that's simple," said
the clerk. "Look, right now I'm writing up for you a
book order for one copy of How to Lose Weight and Grow in
Beauty, and I'm going to mark it 'Urgent.'"
Urgency
is not a word that we normally associate with religion. Emotional
commitment and enthusiasm are not words that we regularly
use to describe the way that we practice our faith. Yet on
this great day of Pentecost, as we bring the Easter season
to its close, our scriptures are filled with urgency, emotion
and enthusiasm. The Holy Spirit descends upon the disciples
gathered together as a mighty wind and in tongues of fire.
Jesus cries out in the temple, "All you who are thirsty,
come to me and drink." These are not business-as-usual
scenes and proclamations. In fact, the whole thrust of the
feast of Pentecost is to tell us that if our faith is going
to be real and effective, it must be characterized by an urgency,
by an emotional commitment, by enthusiasm.
This can
be a difficult challenge for many of us, especially those
who have been Catholics for our whole life. Although we have
faith and our faith is genuine, our faith can become like
an old shoe-comfortable, but not particularly exciting; familiar
but not anything that occasions an emotional response.
We should
realize that such a situation is a strange contradiction.
Because if we really think about what we believe and let it
shape our lives, it should move us to excitement and enthusiasm.
We are alive! We believe that we have been saved! We believe
in a God who loves us! We hold a promise of eternal life!
These are not just small matter-of-fact bits of information
that we store in our heads. These are not parts of our life
that we want to file next to our shirt size or the color our
eyes. These are great eternal truths, issues of life and death,
hope and joy, issues that should in fact move us to profound
commitment and deep emotion. Faith, real faith, should be
something characterized by urgency and enthusiasm.
So what
are we to do if our faith has become ordinary, if our life
has become routine? How can we allow the strength of the gospel
to shake up our life and move us on a deeper level? There
are many approaches one could take, but I am going to suggest
two: thankfulness and generosity.
There
is not a person here today who does not have reason to be
thankful. No matter who we are or what is happening to us,
there are still reasons for gratitude in our life. We must
claim those reasons. Who are the people who are loving us?
What are the material possessions that give us comfort? How
does our health help us to live another day? If we take time
to reflect upon the ways that we have been blessed, we can
begin to feel a thankfulness within us. That feeling of that
thankfulness can change us. It can make us people more likely
to get up in the morning and say to ourselves, "I'm fortunate
to be alive. This is going to be a good day." When we
live our lives with that feeling of thankfulness, we are directing
our lives towards enthusiasm.
There
is not a person in the church here today who does not have
opportunities for generosity. Therefore, we should ask ourselves
who needs us, and what do I have to give? By the things that
I know, by the things I possess, by the things I can do, how
can I make someone else's life better? When we identify these
opportunities for generosity, we should act upon them. For
giving is in itself an affirmation of life. There is no more
satisfying feeling than knowing that we have contributed to
the benefit and joy of another. If we live a life of generosity,
we will become people who live lives of urgency and joy.
Faith
is not a mental exercise played between the expected confines
of the routine. Faith is an explosion of power lived in urgency
and enthusiasm. The English word enthusiasm comes from two
Greek words which mean "God dwells within." So let
us, as followers of Jesus, live our lives in thankfulness
and generosity, so that we can feel the awesome power of the
God who dwells in our hearts.
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