I attended the baby shower for my daughters second
child. My daughter and her husband are
not actively engaged in their faith traditions, yet my son-in-law made a very
faith-filled comment while they were opening the gifts everyone brought. He blurted out in awe, how mysterious &
wondrous it is, how a baby is formed in a mother’s womb and is brought into
the world as a unique individual. Some
of us acknowledged this forming of the child as the hand of God active in their
lives.
The mother in our first reading expresses the same message
when she, “Filled with a noble spirit … exhorted … "I do
not know how you came into existence in my womb; it was not I who gave you the
breath of life, nor was it I who set in order the elements of which each of you
is composed.” (2Mc 7:21-22) It seemed this was all that was needed for the youngest of
seven to have the courage to see his faith through to the end. A point of enlightenment for me is this is
the Old Testament, before Jesus, moment that speaks of the faith in the resurrection. An understanding and faith in God’s
engagement that the sons and their mother offer their very lives as witness to
this trust.
Jesus’ parable today speaks of this trust and faith. This parable is less about the intrigue
surrounding whether the nobleman would become king as it is about the people
who were already loyal to him. How would
they spend the time while they awaited their master’s return? Would
they invest in the coming kingdom, confident in their master’s claim and
authority? Or would they hedge their
bets, not sure whether their master would triumph? In other words, did they believe in him, and did
their faith translate into action?[1]
Each of us face the same questions: Will we invest in the
coming kingdom? Do we believe in Jesus
enough that our faith translates into action?
I can’t help but to think, Thanksgiving is one week
away. For some the tension is building now, as we ponder
how to engage in conversation on the many sensitive current event topics in
politics and religion. As family gathers
around the table for the feast, “I beg you, child, to look at
the heavens and the earth and see all that is in them; … know that God did not
make them out of existing things; and in the same way the human race came into
existence.” (2Mc 7:28)
When the opportunity to share our faith arises, to stand for
the Gospel values, will this Eucharistic feast of Jesus’ passion, death, and
resurrection that we share and profess, give us the courage to put our faith
into action, thus making an investment in our family and friend’s salvation and
movement toward the coming Kingdom?
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