REMEMBERING

The Sacred Scriptures reveal that our faith is centered on remembering. To remember the powerful intervention of God liberating Israel from Egypt. To remember that nothing is impossible to God. To remember that everything is grace and it is always God’s initiative. To remember that our God is a faithful God and His love is excessive, extravagant and boundless. He is our Father and we are His children and He wants the best for us. It is to remember what God has done to the great men and women of old and continues to do great things in our lives today. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews (Hebrews 11:1-2) reveals that faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the convictions of things not seen. Faith is deep insight, inner vision so that we see the way God sees and find Him in all things and all things in Him. It is to remember that faith is a gift from the Holy Spirit. Faith is not simply to believe that God exits but is a loving trust that God works only for our own good and well being inviting us to do the same. Faith is a call and a challenge to believe even when all evidence is to the contrary and things do not seem to go the way we want. Faith is a call and a challenge to persevere when we are tempted to give up because the going is too difficult. Faith is a call and a challenge to keep our feet firm in the present with a confident eye on the future. Faith is a call and a challenge to believe and to know that our future lies in the capable hands of God and that we have nothing to fear. That is why saints live fearless lives because the opposite of faith is fear. The phrase, “do not be afraid”, is repeated in the Bible 365 times reminding us not to be afraid because we are loved by God unconditionally. Jesus tells us not to be afraid because He is the definitive intervention of God. He is the perfect manifestation of God’s love. He is the fulfillment of all the rewards and promises of God. He is the fulfillment of all the hopes, yearnings and longings not only of the people of Israel but of all the people in the world. He calls us to focus on the promise of a heavenly homeland because we are citizens in heaven. He calls us to focus on the resurrected life of the heavenly kingdom, the place where our treasure is to be built up. He is the kingdom of God in person. We are called therefore to be builders of that kingdom here and now: a kingdom of justice, truth, peace and love.