In our struggles to be faithful disciples, we frequently must endure periods when we feel abandoned by God. When we have been intent on serving God with genuine devotion, such times are particularly trying, for one would expect that God would not withdraw consolations. When this happens, the broken heart and the strained spirit cry out to God in complaint: How long? Why? We have all been worn down by life, tempted to give up, too weary to go on.
Faith in God is a gift for which we pray. It enables us to accomplish marvellous feats; with it we can move mountains. As unprofitable servants, we do not earn it; we have no right to claim it as our own. We are the ones from whom faithful service will be expected. We will be sent to plough the fields and tend the sheep. We will be called to serve at table.
The faith that is ours has been mediated to us through the community. We have heard about God and about Jesus from others, from our parents and families, from our teachers and those who preach, from those with whom we work and play. Faith comes from God, but through the mediation of the community. Timothy received faith from his mother and grandmother. It was strengthened in him through the imposition of Paul’s hands and through his preaching of the word of God. Furthermore, what Paul taught had first been handed down to him from those who preceded him.
© Dianne Bergant CSA, https://www.liturgyhelp.com/calendar/date/2025Oct05/0/RefDiBer