UNBELIEVABLE

The pastor of my parish introduced a homily with this story:


It's a joke, but it illustrates how we Christians are believers of the unbelievable. From our earliest history our parents in faith have believed the unbelievable too.

• Abraham believed that God would send him a son and make him the father of nations, even though he and his wife Sarah were quite old and had a long, barren marriage.
• Moses believed that God would lead His people to the Promised Land, in spite of immense odds.
• David, a young shepherd boy, believed he would be the great king and ancestor of the Messiah.
• Joseph believed the message, in a dream, that Mary was pregnant with a child conceived by God.
• Mary believed unequivocally.
• The Apostles believed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God. They believed even after they saw his crucifixion and death.

And it goes on. We believe, not because it makes sense but because we have faith.

It's the same faith that gives us the courage to believe that, as Vincentians, we can change the world. We can save others from poverty and despair; we can make God's kingdom come. Maybe not completely, not everywhere, but we can make the kingdom come, perhaps for just one family in our home town today.

Sometimes we tire. Things look pretty scary and the obstacles are many. When this happens to me, as it does to most people, my prayer is that of the man in Mark's gospel who pleaded with Jesus to help his son: