Word to the Wise
Saturday, February 19, 2011 - Saturday in the 6th Week in Ordinary Time
[Heb 11:1-7 and Mark 9:2-13]Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.....By faith Noah, warned about what was not yet seen, with reverence built an ark for the salvation of his household. Through this, he condemned the world and inherited the righteousness that comes through faith. [Hebrews]
Noah's faith and integrity stands as a monument through the ages. Jesus himself refers to Noah's faith (Lk 17:26) as a sign to "this generation." The Letter to the Hebrews was written well after Jesus' death and resurrection, and Noah gets a very honorable mention along with other Old Testament heroes. It seems to me that there are two dimensions to Noah's faith that are important to us.
The first dimension is that Noah and his family maintained their faith in the face of a very evil society - so evil that God determined to destroy it! The second is that Noah built the ark and stayed faithful through the disaster of the flood, and continued in faith after it was all over! This is not some sentimental, "Somewhere, over the rainbow!" feeling. God's rainbow was the sign of what Noah believed and stood by.
I often hear people who have been through terrible crises say to me, "If I didn't have my faith, I could never have survived what I've been through." Jesus reminds us, especially in the Gospel of John, that faith in Him IS eternal life. The Letter to the Hebrews echoes this when it speaks of faith as the "realization" of what is hoped for. Faith also has a "future" element to it because it commits us to a "no matter what happens" movement toward the future. Discouragement and fear can be terrible elements in life. We all have more than enough of them to make us give up. It is faith in God and God's promises that make the difference. Ask Noah! AMEN
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