Seeking to know if he loves her
Based on a chapter called the Final Judgement in Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini’ s book “Piccolo Manuale della Speranza – Vivere con Fiducia il Nostro Tempo” [A Small manual of Hope – Living our lives in Trust]. Giunti Editore S.p.A. Milano, 2012.
All biblical quotations are from ‘The Jerusalem Bible’, Darton, Longman & Todd, London, 1966.
We will start from the text from Mark’s gospel, where Jesus’ initial preaching is described: “After John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee. There he proclaimed the Good News from God. ‘The time has come’ he said ‘and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the Good News.’” (1,14-15).
From verse 15, we have already examined the words “Gospel” – the Good News, and “conversion” – repent. Now we will examine the word “believe”.
Faith is a word many are familiar with and it is one of the fundamental words of Christianity. If we want to be more precise and keeping in mind that the original words were in Hebrew, then the word can be translated as: “Lean on the Gospel, place your trust in the Gospel”. Faith, in its long history in the Jewish version of the Old Testament, represents the situation of those who trust, of those who lean on a rock, of those that feel secure because they rely on someone who is much stronger than them.
Really trusting someone may appear to be simple. In fact, though, it is an exceedingly difficult thing to do. Our life experiences, the difficult situations that sometimes we find ourselves in, the violence in our society, all make it hard for one to trust another. We feel safer to do things ourselves rather than rely on others.
On the contrary, here we are being advised that it is fundamental that we trust the Gospel. It is essential that we lean on God’s power, God who is reaching out to us by means of the Gospel.
To entrust oneself to another has all the connotations that we have already seen when we were discussing the word “Gospel”: to place one’s trust in, to abandon oneself to, to rely on God’s initiative to reach out to us in the person of Jesus, who is still alive today, resurrected, on the church and on history.
These attitudes that we have just described are fundamentally what we mean by the word ‘faith’. With faith man entrusts himself totally to God, believing the truth as proposed by the Church.
Faith is extremely important in the economy of Christian life. We must not just consider it as a way, an instrument, for obtaining something. It is also important to bear in mind that faith is not something that we can build for ourselves or a characteristic of the believer. Rather, it is a very simple attitude adopted by those who abandon themselves full of hope to God’s initiative, it is drinking deeply at the spring of God’s word that is working in us.
We are not being asked to do great things or heroic acts.
In the previous article on conversion, we had said that conversion is equivalent to one moving from a position of egoism to one where we open up to the service of others. And that this does not originate from our efforts but in our acceptance of the salvation offered to us by God, by which we trust God by opening to him our hearts and out spirit.
So how do we obtain this faith when we decide to want it? Principally, we must listen to and be open to the word of God. Listening to words of the powerful gospel words will open our heart to faith: it is the word of God that produces faith in the heart of those who listen to it.
Listening to the Good News, the message it conveys of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, opens the heart to the marvellous disposition to entrust ourselves to God. It makes us gradually capable of trusting others and to create around ourselves an aura of mutual trust which is essential to overcoming many of life’s difficulties.
We must not make the mistake of thinking that faith is something monolithic, static, and unchallengeable. It is not. Anthony De Mello1 said that faith means not knowing. If we know for sure we do not need faith. Furthermore, faith is a living thing. It needs to be nurtured; it needs to grow. The nourishment comes from the word of God in the bible. St Therese of Lisieux, known affectionately as the Little Flower, was a great saint but towards the end of her short life she confessed that she was assailed by many doubts2. A Christian must not only cope with doubts but must also feel comfortable with paradox and mystery. Again, this is done by keeping in daily touch with the word of God.
Most of all faith is not about believing which statements are true and which are false. It is about what we do; how we live, how we treat others.
Finally, for those that expect a sign before committing themselves, it is exceedingly difficult that this will be given. When Jesus was asked for a sign, he replied: ‘It is an evil and unfaithful generation that asks for a sign! The only sign it will be given is the sign of the prophet Jonah’,[Mt 12,39] that is, his death and resurrection after 3 days.
We conclude this brief reflection with a beautiful prayer that expresses the interior peace and serenity of who, by listening to the word of God, has had the experience of faith. Psalm 23 [22].
Yahweh is my shepherd,
I lack nothing.
In the meadows of green grass he lets me lie.
To the waters of repose he leads me;
there he revives my soul.
He guides me by paths of virtue
for the sake of his name.
Though I pass through a gloomy valley,
I fear no harm;
Beside me your rod and your staff
are there, to hearten me.
You prepare a table before me
under the eyes of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil,
my cup brims over.
Ah, how goodness and kindness pursue me,
every day of my life;
my home, the house of Yahweh,as long as I live!
- Awareness, Anthony De Mello SJ, Zodervan, Michigan, 2002.
- The Story of a Soul, St. Therese of Lisieux, translated and edited by Robert J. Edmonson, CJ, Paraclete Press, Massachusetts,2006
* Mk 1,14-15 means Mark, chapter 1, lines 14 to 15.
** There are 150 psalms, numbered from 1 to 150. Regrettably, the Jewish and Christians numbering systems differ from psalm 9 onwards. This is because some psalms are merged in one system and not in the other. That is why you will see 2 numbers for each quoted psalm with a number higher than 9.