{"id":8859,"date":"2019-10-05T21:21:53","date_gmt":"2019-10-06T04:21:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lubukhati.org\/?p=8859"},"modified":"2019-10-05T21:21:53","modified_gmt":"2019-10-06T04:21:53","slug":"our-catholic-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/?p=8859","title":{"rendered":"Our Catholic Faith"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>27<sup>th<\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary\nTime [C]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>October 6, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Luke 17:5-10<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If there is one most powerful force\nin the universe, it will be faith. Jesus teaches us that even faith as small as\na mustard seed can do the impossible. Jesus preaches that with this little\nfaith, we can command a sycamore tree be uprooted and be planted in the sea. One\nof the smallest things on earth can move the most significant reality in the\nworld. The sycamore tree has both deep, strong and widespread roots. It is just\nimpossible to uproot it when it has grown mature. Yet, Jesus surprises further\neven by saying that we can replant this on the bed of the ocean. That makes it\ndoubly impossible. Jesus is pushing his teaching on faith beyond natural human\nreasoning! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The question is whether Jesus is merely\nexaggerating the power of faith, or He is unveiling the deepest of truth of faith.\nTo answer this question, we need to know first what is faith? Surely there are\nseveral definitions of faith. In the broadest sense, it is a belief in the\ndivine, something that is much more powerful than us, something beyond us. In\nmany religious traditions, this transcendence is a person that is called God.\nThis faith makes us different those who claim themselves as atheists. In\nnarrower sense, it refers to a belief in a particular set of teachings about\nthe divine. In this sense, the Catholic faith is different from the Protestant\nLutheran faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>St. Thomas Aquinas reminds us that\nfaith is basically an ascent of the intellect. This is precisely what faith is mighty.\nIt does not rely on earthly possession, nor our biological nature, nor our\nemotions. If we base our faith on moods, every time, we feel unhappy or\ndepressed, and we may lose our faith. Mother Teresa of Calcutta once wrote in\nher diary that she did not feel the presence of God in her life for almost ten\nyears. If she had depended on her emotion, she would have lost her faith. If we\nplace our faith in our bodily wellbeing, the moment we get sick, or our body\nweakens, we may lose faith. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina received the gift of\nstigmata and had to endure the excruciating pain of the crucifixion for more\nthan 50 years. Had he relied on his body, he would have lost his faith long\ntime ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is the ascent of the intellect\nthat makes faith unbelievably powerful. When I was ordained to both to the diaconate\nand to the priesthood, especially during the most essential part of the\nceremony, the laying of bishop\u2019s hands on my head, I confess that I did not\nfeel anything but a little pressure on my head. Does it mean my ordination\ninvalid? Fortunately, the validity of my ordination is not based on my\nfeelings! It is the faith, my faith, my bishop\u2019s faith, the faith of the\npeople, the faith of the Church. It is the faith that allows the unseen, unfelt\ngrace of God to transform my soul into a soul of Jesus, the priest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our Catholic faith is indeed the\nmustard seed that moves a mountain. It is the faith that make our ears to hear\nthe Word of God in the ordinary pages of the Scriptures. It is the faith that\nopens our minds to see the Body of Christ in a small tiny bread. It is the\nfaith that encourages us to be humble before God and confess our sins before a\npriest. It is the faith that empowers many Christians to persevere in\npersecutions and to readily give their blood for Jesus. It is the faith that\nenables us to sacrifice our lives for others and to love the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>27th Sunday in Ordinary Time [C]<br \/>\nOctober 6, 2019<br \/>\nLuke 17:5-10<\/p>\n<p>If there is one most powerful force in the universe, it will be faith. Jesus teaches us that even faith as small as a mustard seed can do the impossible. Jesus preaches that with this little faith, we can command a sycamore tree be uprooted and be planted in the sea. One of the smallest things on earth can move the most significant reality in the world. The sycamore tree has both deep, strong and widespread roots. It is just impossible to uproot it when it has grown mature. Yet, Jesus surprises further even by saying that we can replant this on the bed of the ocean. That makes it doubly impossible. Jesus is pushing his teaching on faith beyond natural human reasoning! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[57,58],"class_list":["post-8859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-renungan","tag-english","tag-sunday-reflection"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8859"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8859\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8860,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8859\/revisions\/8860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}