FAITH MAKES US HER CHILDREN


MONDAY, FOURTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Gen 28:10-22; Ps 91:1-4,14-15; Mt 18:18-26

Rejoicing over the New Jerusalem

Why was the heavenly Jerusalem in sorrow and mourning? She was the object of mourning and a cause of sorrow for those who loved her because she was desolate and barren. Left alone and abandoned by all, she wept in desolation. It seemed God abandoned her also, for there was no sign of life or fruitfulness in her. Since our discourse is about the heavenly Jerusalem, her desolation is indicative of a lack of faith in the word of God among the people. Because faith is a theological virtue, it is a gift of God with which we cooperate with him. No one makes an act of faith without receiving from God. But God confers the gift with his word. Faith is our adequate response to the gift of the word of God, which God gives for the reception of his word. The absence of faith indicates one of two things: that God has hidden his word from us, or we have failed to cooperate by faith. Thus, we heard the prophet Isaiah invite all to rejoice with the heavenly Jerusalem because God has promised to send his word that gives life to renew Jerusalem on high. The coming of the word of God will be in a unique way that will transform the new Jerusalem from a desolate maiden to a nursing mother of many children. The milk with which she will nourish all peoples and nations is the word of God. We assume the corresponding gift of faith to all peoples and nations that would enable them to feed on the full and glorious breasts of the heavenly Jerusalem.

The Son of Man is the Eternal Word of God in our nature. He is, therefore, the Chief Foundation Stone of the heavenly Jerusalem. The coming of the Son of Man is associated with God’s gift of faith to all peoples and nations, preparing them to receive the Word of God, now dwelling with us. The Gospel gives two examples of such a faith in the Son of Man. “While Jesus was speaking, up came one of the officials, who bowed down low in front of him and said, ‘My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and her life will be saved.’ Jesus rose and, with his disciples, followed him.” The faith of this official was strong enough to believe that Jesus had the power to raise his dead daughter to life. Jesus followed him immediately because of the faith he expressed so firmly in him. Faith is the sufficient condition to receive the divine will or plan of the Father for our well-being, contained in his word. It is through our faith in the Son of Man that we are born of the new Jerusalem and have complete access to her full and glorious breasts. The official received life in place of death for his daughter. The presence of the Son of Man fulfilled the prophecy that God would send peace and well-being like a river over the desolate and lonely Jerusalem.

The second example of how faith in the Son of Man accesses divine blessings contained in the word of God dwelling in our midst is the event of the woman suffering from haemorrhage. “Then from behind him came a woman, who had suffered from haemorrhage for twelve years, and she touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, ‘If I can only touch his cloak I shall be well again.’ Jesus turned round and saw her; and he said to her, ‘Courage, my daughter, your faith has restored you to health.’ And from that moment the woman was well again.” The desire of God to give corresponds with our desire to receive blessings of God in faith. Jacob dreamed of God's promise to bestow the promised blessing on all peoples. “He had a dream: a ladder was there, standing on the ground with its top reaching to heaven; and there were angels of God going up it and coming down. And the Lord was there, standing over him, saying, ‘I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. I will give to you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants shall be like the specks of dust on the ground; you shall spread to the west and the east, to the north and the south, and all the tribes of the earth shall bless themselves by you and your descendants.” The Son of Man revealed himself to be the house of God and the ladder bridging heaven and earth as dreamt by Jacob. Faith in the Son of Man makes us children of God and citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem. It makes us dwell in the shelter of the Most High and abide in the shade of the Almighty as the Psalmist foretold.

Let us pray: O God, who in the abasement of your Son have raised up a fallen world, fill your faithful with holy joy, for on those you have rescued from slavery to sin you bestow eternal gladness. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

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