The Relationship: living by faith

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

January 31, 2025 - Remembering St. John Bosco

Hebrews 10: 32-39; Mark 4: 26-34

The Relationship that God establishes between Godself and us, is a call to live by faith. That is what the prophet Habakuk said and Paul quoted, and we see in today's passage from the letter to the Hebrews - the reighteous shall live by faith. What does it mean to live by faith: it can have two senses - to live in an endless sense of awe and to live totally dependent on the ultimate source of life, that is the Almighty!

Look at life, is there a limit to the surprises it offers? A person with a balanced reason, will certainly and without hesitation say, we can never understand life, at no point, to the full. A reductionist might define life as comfort or pleasure, a materialist may reduce life to possessions and successes , a blind nihilist might call life nothing or worthless, but one who is illumined will know how profound life is and how overwhelming a reflection on it could be. That is why in today's parable Jesus draws our attention to sense of mystery that is embedded within life, that puts us into a never ending feeling of awe. 

Secondly, the struggles and difficulties, moments of failures and challenges, experience of disappointments and acknowledgement of helplessness, are but opportunities to express our endurance in the Lord, to continue to do  God's will and gain what God has promised. The Saint we celebrate today, St. John Bosco, fondly known as Don Bosco, is a splendid witness to this fact. No amount of hardships or hurdles, no count of failures and burdens, would stop him from believing in the Lord and hoping in the Lord's promises. The great achievement that he has accomplished stands testimony to what it means to live by faith! Don Bosco would tell us the same words we heard in the first reading today: you and I are not the sort of people who draw back, and are lost, we are the sort who keep faithful until our souls are saved!