{"id":1166,"date":"2013-08-12T07:37:27","date_gmt":"2013-08-12T11:37:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=1166"},"modified":"2013-08-12T07:37:53","modified_gmt":"2013-08-12T11:37:53","slug":"19th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/19th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-c\/","title":{"rendered":"19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C"},"content":{"rendered":"

19th<\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time<\/a>
\nWisdom 18:6-9
\nHebrews 11:1-2, 8-19
\nLuke 12:32-48
\nAugust 11, 2013
\nIt\u2019s all about faith.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re here today because we are drawn here in faith.\u00a0 We\u2019re here because we seek God in faith.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re here today because we need faith.<\/i><\/p>\n

The Israelites had faith when God came to save them.\u00a0 They felt secure when God bestowed the 10th<\/sup> plague on the Egyptians because God told them he would spare their children.<\/p>\n

But what is faith?<\/i><\/p>\n

Faith is not about factual knowledge.\u00a0 If you look the word up in the dictionary it will say \u2018to believe in what cannot be proven.\u2019\u00a0 We\u2019re human.\u00a0 We want proof in human terms but faith isn\u2019t about human knowledge.<\/p>\n

The Letter to the Hebrews<\/i> speaks of faith as \u201cFaith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

We do not put our faith in what we can see.\u00a0 We put our faith in the one that is unseen, God.<\/i><\/p>\n

What about how Hebrews described faith as \u201cthe realization of what is hoped for\u201d?<\/i><\/p>\n

If something is already realized, then we know it to be.\u00a0 We have knowledge that it is real.\u00a0 We don\u2019t need faith in what has already happened.<\/p>\n

However, knowing the events of the past can give us hope for the future.\u00a0 The Bible is full of stories of how God has been present for his people throughout the ages.\u00a0 The Bible tells us of God\u2019s promises to his people and <\/i><\/b>how he has fulfilled those promises over the ages.<\/p>\n

The Bible also has Jesus\u2019 promises that he will always be there for us and sends us the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 Because the Bible shows us how God kept his promises in the past, in faith we trust in God\u2019s help for the future.<\/p>\n

Abraham serves as our example of faith.\u00a0 When God told him to go to another land, Abraham went without knowing exactly where he was going.\u00a0 In faith he trusted in God\u2019s promise of an heir.\u00a0 Ultimately, Abraham had such great faith that he was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac at God\u2019s command.<\/p>\n

We seek faith like that of Abraham.<\/p>\n

Jesus says to his disciples \u201cDo not be afraid.\u201d\u00a0 <\/i>We may face distress and difficulty in this world but we can do so because we put our trust in the \u201cinexhaustible treasure in heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t easy to endure the things of this world but with God\u2019s grace we do.\u00a0 It is by God\u2019s grace that we can keep vigilant.<\/p>\n

Vigilance is not easy.\u00a0 It takes strength.\u00a0 It takes patience.\u00a0 It takes faith.<\/p>\n

After Jesus\u2019 death and resurrection, people thought the second coming was going to happen immediately and they were very vigilant<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Two thousand years latter and the Second Coming still hasn\u2019t happened.\u00a0 Do we relax our vigilance, saying there is always tomorrow?<\/p>\n

No.\u00a0 Obviously, the Second Coming hasn\u2019t happened but in those 2,000 years countless people have been born into the world.\u00a0 Some died young and some lived a hundred years.\u00a0 None of them lived forever.<\/p>\n

Maybe the Second Coming will come today.\u00a0 Maybe it won\u2019t.\u00a0 We might die today, we might not.\u00a0 We do not know the hour nor the day.\u00a0 Let us be vigilant in faith.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time Wisdom 18:6-9 Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19 Luke 12:32-48 August 11, 2013 It\u2019s all about faith. We\u2019re here today because we are drawn here in faith.\u00a0 We\u2019re here because we seek God in faith. We\u2019re here today because we need faith. The Israelites had faith when God came to save them.\u00a0 They …<\/p>\n

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