At Home with Faith
Faith Fulfills Hope
August 7, 2022
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
We often trust in people and things, even if our trust is based on evidence that we cannot see: when we travel, we trust that airplanes will fly (and land); we trust our doctor’s advice; and we trust our family to care for us. When St. Paul tells us that “faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen,” (Hebrews 11:1), he is talking about something similar.
Faith involves a human act of trusting in evidence that goes beyond the power of our senses. But it also involves a gift of grace through God, which reveals the way things truly are and enables us to understand the world as he does. Let’s continue to ask for this gift.
Read
Wisdom 18:6-9
Your people await the salvation of the just.
Psalm 33
Our soul waits for the Lord who is our help and our shield.
Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19
Faith is the realization of what is hoped for.
Luke 12:32-48
Be ready for the Lord to come when you do not expect.
Talk
Reflect and share the gift of faith with your family:
Reflect on your own experience of faith. What was the evidence that led you to believe in the Catholic faith? Do you have places where you still struggle to understand? Was there a point at which you felt like you received a gift of faith?
Ask your children, what do you trust in and why? Every day we engage in acts of trust: we trust that our cars will work, that our doctors are telling us the truth, that our family will care for us. Ask your children what they trust in and why. Ask if they see how we all act on evidence that goes beyond what can be immediately sensed or proven beyond doubt.
Ask your children if they trust in Jesus. See how your children respond. Be patient in letting them think through what they believe and why. They may not have asked for evidence for the faith before and may not be ready with an answer. Also, they may need help along a path towards faith. This is all OK.
Share some resources for the faith with your children. Check out the section below for some resources that help us build a foundation for our faith. It can be very helpful to spend some time reviewing the case for the faith so that we are more prepared to receive the gift of faith from God.
Go Deeper
Find out if your parish has a subscription to FORMED.org. If so, check out the FORMED production The Search, a great resource to provide an overview of our faith and why we believe.
Explore the Alpha course for Catholics. This resource provides an overview of the reasonableness of the faith and introduction to Christianity in a community setting. The videos can also be found on YouTube.
For those who would like to learn more about the connection between faith and science, check out the Magis Center website which provides great responses to these questions.