TO LIVE FAITH IN LOVE

XXVII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - 2 Timothy 1:6-8,13-14

During my youth, we lived through times of great optimism. The dark spots of the world seemed to be no more than passing shadows, giving in to the warmth of light that flashed all round us. It seemed that we were on the way to great human victories, nothing being impossible. Nowadays, the pendulum is going back to a pessimist attitude. We are being confronted with the power of evil, and the worst evil is the evil in human hearts. The violence, the hatred and the rage that makes of human beings the wildest beasts on earth, who are never satisfied with the shedding of blood. It is never enough, and it is done in the cruelest forms. The thirst for power and control leads to total destruction. It is sheer madness, as we can see in Syria.

This evil pervades everything and may get hold of our hearts. And we make the cry of Habakkuk our own:

How long, O Lord, am I to cry for help

while you will not listen;

to cry ‘Oppression!’ in your ear

and you will not save?

Why do you set injustice before me,

why do you look on where there is tyranny?

Outrage and violence, this is all I see,

all is contention, and discord flourishes. (Habakkuk 1:2-3)

This is the cry of someone disappointed, living in anguish, because there is only violence all round him. This is the cry of many psalms and the cry of many prophets. We are flooded with a feeling of being deserted and abandoned, left to our own fate. And we question ourselves if God cares. The question is addressed to God himself. How can he stand aloof, when so much violence is done in his name? But maybe, instead of addressing our questions to God, we should question ourselves in first. How much have we contributed for this violence? How much of it is a reaction to our unfaithfulness?

In his answer, God tells us through the prophet that he will bring to fulfilment his promise of salvation. And he ends up with this great statement: 

“the upright man will live by his faithfulness.” (Habakkuk 2:4))

We must live by faith. And faith implies faithfulness, which means an effort on our side to answer God’s call, to live by his commandments and to produce fruits of love, because we have experienced the love of God. But we can never forget that faith is a gift from God as well. That’s why the Apostles’ request is our prayer as well:

“Increase our faith!” (Lk 17:5).

Faith implies a total confidence in God’s love and God’s care. We are in his hands, and he will never abandon us; even in difficult times, he will protect and rescue us. This confidence must lead us to obedience as well: May his will be done! And in the end, when we have done everything that he asked us to do, we must recognise that we did nothing special; in fact, we did no more than our duty.

In his second letter to Timothy, Paul advises him never “to be ashamed of witnessing to the Lord” (2 Tim 1:8) and to keep the sound teaching:

“Keep as your pattern the sound teaching you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” (2 Tim 1:13)

Let us ask the Lord to increase our faith and to give us the strength to live that faith in love.