Reading, Gospel and homily from an evening Mass celebrated by Fr Richard on the Thursday of the 4th Week of Lent. The Mass was celebrated for the Intentions of NHS workers
Homily: The conviction of belief
Faith is perhaps tested none
more so than at difficult, challenging moments. At this time when there’s no
Mass in public and churches are closed, it might be a temptation to think – has
God abandoned us? Where is He now? Do I really believe in Him amidst this crisis
in the world?
But we must not be like the
Israelites in our First Reading who turned away from God and the Jews in today’s
Gospel who refuse to believe in Jesus. Instead, we must hold firm to our faith in
Him. We believe that God is Love and that He has come to save us precisely
because of Jesus’ words and actions. Our Lord cured the sick, the blind, and
the lame; He cast out devils; he has raised men from the dead; he himself died
and rose again for us. Jesus said: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life” (John
14:6). He declared Himself as the Son of Man to the blind beggar as we heard on
Sunday. He said: “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). He told Pilate: “Yes,
I am a king” (John 18:37).
We believe, then, that Jesus
is God-made-man, precisely because we believe in the testimony of the Son of
God Himself. This act of belief is not something we can be convinced about one
day and not the next, when things get tough. But if we truly believe in Christ
and His power to protect and save us, our conviction is both permanent and
certain; our faith will then sustain us in all we do.
Today,
I invite you to remind yourself of your baptism – that moment when you, or your
parents and godparents on your behalf, declared before God: yes, Lord I believe.
I also invite you to think back to the first time you remember consciously experiencing
the power of God in your life. May these moments sustain us in our conviction
of faith that we may be brought, one day, to the everlasting joys of heaven.
