FAITH IS A GIFT- TREASURE IT!
Thursday of the Third Week of Easter
My dear encountered couple:
We might sometimes wonder why everyone is not Christian, why everyone is not a follower of Christ? We can’t imagine ourselves being anything else. And an even deeper mystery to us is how can anyone be an atheist when there is so much proof around us of the existence of God?
Our gospel today answers those questions in the first line. “No one can come to me,” said Jesus, “unless the Father who sent me draws him.”
Faith is a gift. You and I have been privileged to receive that gift. We have been and still are drawn by the Father. Our problem might be that we have become so used to our faith we take it for granted, as if it is part and parcel of our human nature. We should thank God every day for our gift of Faith. And we should pray that we never lose it. For there are many people who seem to have lost the faith they once had. How? That’s the question!
We can never be too sure how people lose their faith. One thing we can be sure of: God does not take back any gifts that he has given.
But we can return them to him of our own free will, either directly by saying, “Thanks but no thanks,” or indirectly by not responding to his gift of Faith. Faith must be responded to. It must lead to action that flows from the object of the faith. Since Christ is the object of our faith that means we are to become like him. If we don’t at least try, that means our faith is weak, inactive, possibly dying.
Never take your faith for granted. Keep it, live it, and while you’re at it, spread it?
