Jesus Gives Us A Deeper Understanding Of Faith

(By Fr. Dexter Brereton)

As we approach the end of Lent, increasingly we turn our minds and hearts to the contemplation of the paschal mystery, the saving events in the life of Jesus Christ which won redemption for us: his suffering, death resurrection and ascension to the Father. As we continue our contemplation of the paschal mystery, this extract from John’s gospel puts before us the whole notion of faith – an important concept for our living today.

Many of us were taught in our catechism that “faith” is a supernatural gift of God which enables us to believe without doubting, whatever God has revealed. In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus presents us with a much deeper understanding of faith – much deeper than accepting or believing an idea or set of ideas.

The time of his final passage back to the house of the Father is fast approaching, the signs are ominous, the conflict with his enemies is sharpening. By now, Jesus has to be more careful in his movements, yet he remains steadfastly loyal to his mission – even if it means that he will pay for it with his life. He says:

Now the hour has come,
For the son of Man to be glorified,
I tell you most solemnly,
Unless a wheat grain falls on the ground and dies,
It remains only a single grain.
But if it dies,
It yields a rich harvest.

These words are true of all the activists in all the great freedom movements of our time, the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, the struggle against brutal communism in Eastern Europe, against the dictatorship of the Marcoses in the Philippines, against the military dictatorships in South America. Recently Ava DuVernay has directed a film, Selma, which chronicles the hardship and suffering of those fighting black voter suppression in the Southern United States during the great Civil Rights struggle. The lives of all those activists who were murdered have all been given immensely greater worth because they were like a wheat grain which ‘fell on the ground and died.’

Here then we come to a much deeper understanding of ‘faith’ –  the faith of Jesus of Nazareth. His faith is nothing less than the total surrender of his life, placing his trust and his confidence no longer in his own ingenuity or strength, but in the One in whom he believes. Faith then is the total human response to the God who reveals himself. To have faith is more than believing in an idea, to have faith is to believe with one’s whole life, with one’s whole existence.

This understanding of faith is far deeper and richer than the “intellectual” idea of faith to which we were introduced as children. It leads us to appreciate more deeply the reality of the incarnation of the Son of God. Jesus did not go easily to the cross because he “knew how the story would end.” Like all of us he journeyed often in the semi-darkness of faith. This is great news for all of us who right now find ourselves in a precarious position, who are enduring the night of trial – Jesus our brother shows us the way.

Second, our faith is not something we can live in a ‘compartmentalized’ way to that we ‘pray like a Christian’ on Sundays and ‘cuss like the devil’ on weekdays. In an interview several years ago, Pope Benedict put it this way:[faith] is something living which is inclusive of the whole person in all his dimensions, understanding, will and feelings. It can then fasten its roots ever deeper into my life, so that my life becomes more and more nearly identical with my faith.

Third, faith is demanding, it is hard. It is hard because in all our trials, we are never, ever given beforehand the consolation of a ‘happy ending.’ We get this sense in what Timothy Radcliffe, OP says about Hope:

Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.

As we journey towards the days when we celebrate our salvation, let us thank the Lord for the precious gift of his Son Jesus, and his powerful example of faith.

Increase in us, Lord, the faith you have given us,
and bring to a harvest worthy of heaven
the praise we offer you at the beginning of this new day.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.  AMEN