Our Faith Is Not Theory
4th Sunday in Advent
“Let the Lord enter; he is king of glory.”Ps. 24
Many people see religion as a set of nice theoretical ideas that give them a certain sense of well-being—perhaps like any other hobby, whether it’s playing golf or enjoying a walk. They do not know faith as the treasure for which it is worth sacrificing time and money, and even giving one’s very life. They treat it as an ideology or pleasant theory, but then they go back to what they consider the real world—everyday life, earning money, having fun, enjoying themselves… In short, they live like those who have no faith, because their faith makes no real difference in their lives.
The human being, besides being somewhat rational—not very much, since we still have a lot of irrational—is also naturally a religious being. Evidence of this is that those who do not attend church end up believing in anything: amulets, horoscopes, superstitions, fortunetellers, cards, etc. as Chesterton said; when one does not have true faith, one becomes open to any false faith.
Many who go to church may also be in a false faith, because they only seek to fill that space of religiosity present in every human being. And if they do not use it to discover the treasure of the living God, they may end up with an idolatrous or false, hypocritical faith—a cover for a life that is just as pagan and enslaved by sin, by the ego that enthrones itself and refuses to be freed by Jesus.
True faith is lived as the most important thing of all, placing God and His message as the absolute priority, in first place, and putting everything else as secondary and passing. This is what Jesus Himself asks of us when He asks for first love: “If you love your mother more than Me…” “Seek first the Kingdom of God.”
Anyone who does not give God that first place is someone who has neither found Him nor known Him. For the one who finds Him will be willing to leave everything else behind rather than lose that treasure (Mt 13:44). THIS IS THE EXAMPLE GIVEN TO US BY MARY AND JO- SEPH. At the voice of God, they do not hesitate for a moment to give an unconditional, immediate YES. Before God’s will, their own disappears; they leave themselves behind and respond.
That is faith—not an ideology but a life. Faith works through charity (Gal 5:6), for without works it is dead (James 2:17). That is why it is important to live it; if you do not live it, you lose it. If you do not live what you believe, you end up believing what you live.
Mary answered the angel: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” When Joseph awoke, he did what the Angel had told him… (Mt 1:24). GIVE SHELTER TO CHRIST IN YOUR HEART AS MARY AND JOSEPH DID.
Readings of the Week
Sunday: Is 7:10–14/Ps 23:1–2, 3–4, 5–6 (7, 10)/Rom 1:1–7/Mt 1:18–24
Monday: 1 Sm 1:24–28/1 Sm 2:1, 4–5, 6–7, 8/Lk 1:46–56
Tuesday: Mal 3:1–4, 23–24/Ps 24:4–5, 8–9, 10 and 14/Lk 1:57–66
Wednesday:
Morning: 2 Sm 7:1–5, 8–12, 14, 16/Ps 88:2–3, 4–5, 27 and 29/Lk 1:67–79
Thursday:
Vigil: Is 62:1–5/Ps 88:4–5, 16–17, 27, 29 (2)/Acts 13:16–17, 22–25/Mt 1:1–25 or 1:18–25
Midnight Mass: Is 9:1–6/Ps 95:1–2, 2–3, 11–12, 13 (Lk 2:11)/Tit 2:11–14/Lk 2:1–14
Dawn: Is 62:11–12/Ps 96:1, 6, 11–12/Tit 3:4–7/Lk 2:15–20
Day: Is 52:7–10/Ps 97:1, 2–3, 3–4, 5–6 (3)/Heb 1:1–6/Jn 1:1–18 or 1:1–5, 9–14
Friday: Acts 6:8–10; 7:54–59/Ps 30:3–4, 6 and 8, 16 and 17/Mt 10:17–22
Saturday: 1 Jn 1:1–4/Ps 96:1–2, 5–6, 11–12/Jn 20:1, 2–8
Next Sunday: Sir 3:2–6, 12–14/Ps 127:1–2, 3, 4–5 (v. 1)/Col 3:12–21 or 3:12–17/Mt 2:13–15, 19–23
Observances of the Week
Sunday: 4th Sunday of Advent
Tuesday: Saint John Cantius, Priest
Wednesday: Christmas Eve
Thursday: The Nativity of the Lord
Friday: Saint Stephen, the First Martyr
Saturday: Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist
Next Sunday: The Holy Family
