By Fr. Roy Cimagala
THAT’S what we can learn from that gospel episode about the blind man Bartimaeus begging Christ to cure his blindness. (cfr. Mk 10,46-52) More than anything else, it was actually Bartimaeus’ faith that did the trick, as Christ himself testified: “Go your way; your faith has saved you.”
In our life, in spite of our 20-20 vision, there would still be things that we can fail to see. And this is even true with respect to the material things of nature that by definition we should be able to see with less or even no effort at all.
But let’s remember that since our life involves spiritual and supernatural realities, that failure to see is even much greater. This is where we truly need the light of faith, which God shares with us.
If we can only be receptive and responsive to that faith, like Bartimaeus, there should be no problem about our capacity to see things that especially go beyond the material and natural things in the world.
We need to understand that since our life is a life with God, a life in the Spirit which is a supernatural life more than just a natural life, our Christian faith has to be taken care of, nourished and developed to full maturity.
We need to be more aware of this duty and develop the appropriate attitude and skill to carry out this responsibility effectively. We have to go beyond mere good intentions or being merely theoretical in order to be truly practical and vitally engaged with this obligation.
Faith is a tremendous gift from God who starts to share with us what he has, what he knows about himself and about ourselves. It gives us the global picture of reality, covering both the temporal and the eternal, the material and the spiritual, the natural and supernatural dimensions of our life.
It is what gives permanent value to our passing concerns, the ultimate, constant and unifying standard to all the variables of our life. The perishable things of life can attain an imperishable quality when infused with faith. What is merely earthly and mundane can have a sanctifying effect when done with faith.
By its very dynamics, it prepares us for a life of charity which is how our life ought to be. It is also nourished and is the effect of charity, indicating to us that faith is organically united to charity, the very essence of God in whose image and likeness we are.
Besides, given the character of journeying of our earthly life, faith is also what nourishes our hope, that principle that enables us to move on before all kinds of possible situations and predicaments we can encounter in our life. It gives us the reason, the basis, and the vital impulses of our hope.
Faith contains the medicine and the remedy to all our spiritual inadequacies and illnesses. It is what is required for miracles to happen, as attested many times in the Gospel.
As a gift from God who spares nothing to give himself to us completely, faith is a seed planted in our soul especially during the sacrament of baptism. Parts of it or the whole of it may come to us in some other mysterious ways known only to God.
There is certainly a need to know the content of our faith. We have to study and meditate on the gospel, the catechism and other sources. We have to be attentive to the teachings of the Church magisterium who is empowered and guaranteed by Christ to teach the faith with authority and with infallibility.
With faith we enter into the very life of God!
Email: roycimagala@gmail.com
