the sermon on the mount and faith

one

Jesus brings his Sermon on the Mount to a close by teaching:

'It is not those who say to me, "Lord, Lord", who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven. When the judgment day comes, many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, work many miracles in your name?" Then I shall tell them to their faces: I have never known you; away from me, you evil men!' 'Therefore, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against that house, and it did not fall: it was founded on rock. But everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and struck that house, and it fell; and what a fall it had!'

Jesus concludes his teaching by explaining the true nature of faith.

Faith in Jesus means to believe all that he teaches and to do what he teaches.

Faith is not real, it is not solid until we live it, until we put it into practice.

two

There are three parts of faith.

First, faith is when you hold something to be true based on the testimony of God. God tells us something we couldn’t have known on our own and we make the decision to accept what God says as true.

Jesus is God and He has revealed everything we need to know about the most important questions of life: who is God; what is our relationship to God; what is the purpose of life; how should we live to find true happiness; why is there evil; what is the purpose of suffering; and what happens to us after death?

We find all that Jesus revealed in the Word of God which consists of Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium. The Magisterium means the teaching of the Catholic Church. The best synthesis of the Word of God is the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Faith is the virtue that enables us to add heavenly information to our knowledge. This knowledge is the most reliable, the most certain because God himself revealed it and this knowledge should radically change our lives. 

three

St Paul describes the second part of faith as a total personal commitment to do and accept the will of God.

It is not enough to simply accept the content of faith as true. I could know everything in the Catechism but if I did not live it, then I do not have faith. James 2:19 You believe in the one God - that is good, but the demons have the same belief, and they are in hell.

Faith must transform your whole life.

When someone claims to be a Christian, to believe in Jesus, but not live by his teachings, they are living in denial.

If we accept that Jesus is God, then we should strive to live it.

But if we don’t actively incorporate it into everything we do – well, that is a sign we live in denial, that our faith is dead.

Faith only lives insofar as it changes our life.

We have been meditating on the Sermon on the Mount, the greatest of Jesus teaching for the last 30 days…

It is challenging, I am weak and I fail often…

But I want to live it

I know you do as well…

Don’t give up

Keep getting up after you fall

Jesus will carry you over the finish line!

four

Jesus describes faith as an expectation that God will work wonders.

It is this expectation that allows those wonders to occur.

In 1982, the Israeli Airforce carried out daily bombing raids on Beirut, Lebanon in its efforts to weaken Lebanon and gain more control of the Golan Heights. During these raids 36 disabled children had been abandoned in a hospital in West Beirut that was heavily damaged. Mother Teresa heard about this and flew from India to rescue the children. She met with a number of military officers and politicians and asked for a fleet of Red Cross trucks to go and pick up the children… tomorrow. The US Ambassador retorted, “This is impossible. We need a ceasefire first. And There is no chance it will come tomorrow….”

“Oh, but I have been praying to Our Lady,” Mother stated confidently. And I have asked her to let us have a cease-fire here ~ tomorrow.” The ambassador was taken aback. He stared incredulously at Mother Teresa and said, “Mother, I believe in prayer, but don’t you think that the time limit is little…well you know… short?” “Oh, no.” Mother Teresa responded: “I am certain that we will have the cease-fire tomorrow.” Trying in vain to conceal his skepticism, he placated her quietly. “Mother, if we have a cease-fire, I will personally make the arrangements to see that you go to West Beirut tomorrow.” Mother Teresa’s response was simply, “We shall pray.”

Then Mother Teresa went and pulled an all-nighter in prayer in the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. To everyone’s surprise, except for Mother Teresa, a Cease Fire was declared the next morning at sunrise and you can watch for yourselves on You Tube the convoy of Red Cross trucks carrying those children to safety and a big smile on Mother Teresa’s face.

That is expectant faith.

five

Only Jesus can give us Faith; but you have a job here as well.

No matter how much I want another person to have faith, I cannot give it to them. We cannot generate faith in someone else. Only Jesus can. Only the encounter with Jesus, has the power to give someone faith.

Still, we have a necessary role to play. It is our job to help people encounter Jesus. How do we prepare the way? By being Missionaries of Friendship with our family and with our friends.

We help to prepare the way by praying and offering sacrifice for them. By sharing life with them and delighting in all that is good in them. By learning the art being genuinely interested in them, of asking good questions and follow-up questions to get people thinking about the most important things in life. And when we see a hunger for God arise in their heart, invite them to what they want. Invite them to pray the Rosary with you or learn more or help them to the Church and the Sacraments.

You cannot make another person have faith. But through friendship there is much that we must do. St Francis of Assis said, “Through friendship learn faith.”

But I need your Help to grow this…share the Rosary, build your teams and help bring about the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart.