Steadfastness
That word, “steadfastness”, has resonated with me
ever since it was mentioned in an article I read
which suggested that it was the most helpful way of
thinking about the practice of our Faith. Therein, the
idea of being “steadfast” was set over/against the
expectation we often have to be “stimulated”, “to
feel something,” or “to have an experience”.
The definition of “faith” is really what is at issue
here. The clearest of all Biblical definitions comes
from the 11th chapter of Hebrews which tells us that
“Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and
the evidence of things not seen.”
I would propose that the first half of this definition
would come into play if we were ever to ask
ourselves a question like, “What defines my hope in
the most precise way?” Might we answer
“heaven,” or “glory,” or “pure happiness”? Or,
maybe you would use some other word along those
lines. When we ask this question about “hope” in its
distilled form –--separated from all superficiality--we would probably find that it isn’t a matter of
personal preference or subjective taste: We all hope
for the same thing . . . even if we use a different
word for it!
In Jesus Christ, our hope is “realized!” Various
words are used to describe what that realization
looks like because human language is inadequate to
exhaustively define it: We say, “Heaven,” “glory”,
“blessedness”, “ecstasy”, among many other words.
The second part of the biblical definition involves
“evidence of things not seen.” What evidence?
Where is the evidence? Is the Bible the evidence?
Is Tradition the evidence? Is the fact that so many
other people believe the evidence? Is the Church the
evidence? I would say a qualified “Yes!” to all of
those . . . by which I mean, not scientific, seeable,
proof but, rather, a definite correspondence between
what God has revealed and the deepest, most
precise content of my hope.
I would focus this reflection on our weekly
celebration of Mass at St. John’s: With so many
options open to us on a weekend, it isn’t easy to
choose faith and attendance at Mass. There may be
a dozen other things we would much rather do. The
reason we choose Mass over all those other things is
because we have faith that our hope has been
realized in Christ Jesus, and that “it is truly right
and just to give him thanks and praise.” Entered
into with the eyes of faith, we see a curtain drawn
back, and heaven coming down to earth in our
sanctuary, in the Sacrament of the Altar.
I realize that those spectacular words do not match
up with the rather repetitive and formulaic
experience of the Mass: Very often we are not
stimulated at Mass! We find it very difficult to be
engaged! But faith---if it is really faith--- doesn’t
demand stimulation, or a feeling or some sort of
spectacle. Faith is belief in Jesus’ word: “This is
my body . . . This is my blood” . . . and this belief is
located at a much deeper level than any gratifying
feeling or experience. Ultimately, I would say, it is
sustained by “steadfastness” . . .
Remain steadfast in the journey of
faith, with firm hope in the Lord. This
is the secret of our journey!
(Pope Francis, Rite of Confirmation, Rome 4/29/13)