Daily Mass Gospel Reflection- What is Faith

Word on Fire Ministry ^ | 06.18.22 | Bishop Robert Barron

[MurphsLaw]

Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

Matthew 6:24-34

Friends, our Gospel today calls us to entrust our lives completely to God.
How often the Bible compels us to meditate on the meaning of faith!
We might say that the Scriptures rest upon faith,
and that they remain inspired at every turn by the spirit of faith.

Paul Tillich said that “faith” is the most misunderstood word in the religious vocabulary,
and I’ve always felt that he’s right about that.
What is faith?
Faith is an attitude of trust in the presence of God.
Faith is openness to what God will reveal, do, and invite.
It should be obvious that in dealing with the infinite,
all-powerful God, we are never in control.

This is precisely what we see in the lives of the saints:
in Mother Teresa moving into the worst slum in the world in an attitude of trust;
in Francis of Assisi just abandoning everything and living for God;
in Rose Hawthorne deciding to take cancer sufferers into her own home;
in Antony leaving everything behind and going into the desert;
in Maximilian Kolbe saying,
“I’m a Catholic priest; take me in his place.”

Do not worry,
and depend on God for everything.
Have faith!

[MurphsLaw]

+++Jesus said to his disciples:
“No one can serve two masters.
He will either hate one and love the other,
or be devoted to one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and mammon.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry
about your life,
what you will eat or drink,
or about your body, what you will wear.
Is not life more than food and the
body more than clothing?
Look at the birds in the sky;
they do not sow or reap, they gather
nothing into barns,
yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are not you more important than they?
Can any of you by worrying add a
single moment to your life-span?
Why are you anxious about clothes?
Learn from the way the wild flowers grow.
They do not work or spin.
But I tell you that not even Solomon
in all his splendor
was clothed like one of them.
If God so clothes the grass of the field,
which grows today and is thrown
into the oven tomorrow,
will he not much more provide for
you, O you of little faith?
So do not worry and say, ‘What are
we to eat?’
or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What
are we to wear?’
All these things the pagans seek.
Your heavenly Father knows that you
need them all.
But seek first the Kingdom of God
and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given
you besides.
Do not worry about tomorrow;
tomorrow will take care of itself.
Sufficient for a day is its own evil.”+++