We Live By Faith

Homily for Friday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Who among us is not capable of compiling a catalog of the negative. In almost every human life there are episodes of anxiety, depression, grief, and exhaustion. Some have experienced injustice and despair. Others are forced to live among opposing forces who are at war. We have all been exposed to images of starvation. We have seen people trying to escape these negative experiences only to become refugees, people who are homeless and unwelcome in many places.

Even in the midst of the darkness of our world, we have been blessed with powerful and positive experiences. We have known joy, relief, rest, justice, companionship, validation, and love. Perhaps the most positive experience that we can add to this list is that of our faith. As the Gospel constantly reminds us, people who walk by faith find light in the midst of darkness because they walk with Jesus, the light of the world.

The first reading from one of the so-called minor prophets, Nahum, sings of the joy that filled the people of Judah after their release from the captivity of Babylon. Nahum draws a picture in which he compares the life of the children of Israel with that of the citizens of Nineveh. Judah has been restored because they returned to the Lord while Nineveh was destroyed because its people denied themselves nothing.

This reading is followed by the Gospel text in which Jesus explains the difference between the negative and the positive. He says to his disciples: “whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” If we never deny ourselves, if we never make sacrifices, we are only living for this life. However, when we embrace the cross and live for others, then we are living for eternal life. Just as the sacrifice that Jesus endured on the cross opened access to heaven for all people, the sacrifices that we choose to make lead us to that salvation which he won for us.

Focusing on the negative aspects of life can become burdensome. Let us focus on the Lord and all the good that God has given us. The weight of our crosses becomes bearable when we allow Jesus to carry it with us. True peace and true freedom are the gifts that God offers for those who live for others.