Don’t give up on your faith
The promise of the New Year is still with us:
“May corn be abundant in the land
To the peaks of the mountains.
May its fruit rustle like Lebanon” (Psalm 72).
In “That’s the way it is” Celine Dion sings “Don’t give up on your faith / Love comes to those who believe it / And that’s the way it is.” When you’re in doubt and ready to give up, when loneliness comes, Don’t give up on your faith.
There is a process involved in renewing our faith and receiving the blessings of grace. The Catholic Mass begins with a procession, a symbolic gesture of our lives as a pilgrimage. This procession symbolizes and leads into the penitential rite where Kyrie Eleison (Lord have Mercy) is sung or recited.
The priest ascends the altar steps. This too is symbolic of lifting up our eyes (and hearts) to God and reminding us of Jesus' ascent to Mount Calvary. The priest assumes this role and ascends to a "mystical" Mount Calvary to offer the sacrifice of the Mass, participating in the one sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
Going forward in the Mass or worship is like going forward into the New Year. Going forward in trust is easier if we have faith. We do not know what the future hold, but we know who holds the future. When your heart's left in doubt / Don't give up on your faith / Love comes to those who believe it.
The impossible should not stop us. Native American Olympian Jim Thorpe had his shoes stolen on the morning of the competition. He found some shoes in the garbage. One shoe was larger and so he wore an extra sock. He won two gold medals that day.
We are all on a journey this New Year, a journey that involves searching. Love is the key to that brighter future. Love comes to those who believe. Journeying with God is the way to go in 2025. The magic happens when we cooperate with God’s grace in the Holy Spirit. Examples abound.
During World War II (1945), a Japanese boy stood in front of a funeral pyre and waited his turn to cremate his little dead brother. He held the infant’s body across his shoulders. A photographer gave witness.
He saw that the boy was biting his lips so hard to keep from crying that blood was dripping from the corner of his mouth. When the guard offered to free him from his heavy burden, the boy said, “He ain’t heavy, he is my brother.”
After we clear our eyes we realize how love works. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ. That makes service to others easier. Take for example the life and ministry of evangelist Reinhard Bonnke.
In his ministry Bonnke converted 89,025,314 people to follow Christ. Decision cards filled in by converts support these numbers. Startling stories of deaf people regaining their hearing, blind people regaining their sight and paralyzed people suddenly walking again accompanied his ministry.
As Christians we are empowered to move forward through pain, suffering and setbacks. Charlie Chaplin once told a joke. Everyone laughed. He told it a second time; only a few laughed. When he told it a third time no one laughed. Then he said, “If you can't laugh and laugh at the same joke, why do you cry and cry at the same pain and sorrow?”
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