Day 20: Stepping in Faith

By his Revelation, "the invisible God, from the fullness of his love, addresses men as his friends, and moves among them, in order to invite and receive them into his own company." The adequate response to this invitation is faith. By faith, man completely submits his intellect and his will to God. With his whole being man gives his assent to God the revealer. Sacred Scripture calls this human response to God, the author of revelation, "the obedience of faith". CCC 142-143

Today's reading is about our response to God in faith. In some ways, it can be easy to believe that God exists and has revealed Himself. The really difficult thing to do, and something I constantly struggle with, is believing God by submitting our will to Him. Nevertheless, we are called to do so, to "take up [our] cross and follow [Christ]." (Matt 16:24) Still, a constant struggle.

I like that the Catechism gives us two models of faith and obedience to God's will: Abraham & Mary. Abraham didn't have any Scripture, no cultural connection to the faith, yet listened to the voice of the Almighty, an unknown god to him. By leaving the only home he knew at such an advanced age to wander in strange lands because of the promises of an unknown god (that is, God), must have seemed like madness. Compound this with the near-sacrifice of his son Isaac and Abraham showed a strong faith and obedience to the will of God. By this faith, Abraham is "the father of all of us" (Rom 4:16) and is known to us today as a  "model of... obedience".

It is with the Virgin Mary, however, that we find a model that "most perfectly embodies the obedience of faith". I've always been struck by what she faced and did. An angel tells her that the Holy Spirit will impregnate her with the Son of God. She is young, betrothed, and has never had sex. This was uber-scandalous and could have placed her life in danger as an adulteress (Deut 22:21-23), as well as being thought mad for visions. Even though her husband Joseph came to accept this after a dream (Matt 1:18-24), the knowledge that this child was the Son of God must have been terrifying. It's bad enough when parents make mistakes with their own human child, but to do so with the Son of God?!? Yet "Mary's faith never wavered. She never ceased to believe in the fulfillment of God's word." It is little wonder that this shows Theotokos to be the "purest realization of faith" and why the Church venerates her as such.