March 8th, Monday, Third Week of Lent

2 Kings 5: 1-15b, Psalm 42: 2, 3; 43: 3, 4, Luke 4: 24-30

Faith is a tricky concept for many of us. When faced with a difficult or anxious situation, faith often becomes a hope or possibly an expectation of a specific outcome. We expect that outcome of our faith to be dressed a particular way, however I don’t think that is what faith is really about.

For many of us, our concept of faith grows as we have more life experiences and as our understanding of the world grows. Many of us start in a place of faith, with the expectation a specific outcome. What I’ve learned about faith is that it is not expectation, but a fact. Faith is 1) believing that the Lord has a message intended for us and that 2) we trust him and ourselves enough to believe that we will know when He is revealing Himself. The hard part is being patient long enough to notice how this message is revealed. We cannot expect Faith to wear certain clothes. We can only ask for the wisdom to become aware and understand when the Lord is presenting Himself. Psalm 43: 3, 4 states: “Send your light and fidelity, that they may be my guide”. To me, this means ‘enlighten me Lord so that I can experience your message’.

What motivates us to have faith? I believe If we’ve been fortunate enough to experience enough God-beauty in our lives, we long for more of those experiences. Psalm 42: 3 states, “My being thirsts for God, the living God. When can I go and see the face of God?”

I’ve learned we can go and see His face any time. We need to trust that God will give us what we need to know we’ve encountered Him.

Jeanne Rooney is a mother of three. She and her husband Tony have been parishioners of St. Raymond Parish for 13 years.