Homily for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Faith Is Reasonable

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, Minnesota

Sunday, August 7, 2022

In the Bible, the theme of faith is littered everywhere, but the classic chapter that pointedly speaks about faith is in Hebrews 11, which is the second reading for this weekend. Today, faith is one of the most controversial subjects. On TV and on the web, new atheists describe faith as naïveté, superstition, unintelligence, acceptance of pre-scientific nonsense etc. They say faith is sub-rational and unworthy of mature people. Before his death in 2011, Christopher Hitchens, a leading proponent of new atheism, delighted in mocking faith and people of faith. Echoing Immanuel Kant, an Enlightenment philosopher’s dictum, “Sapere aude,” which means, “Dare to know,” Hitchens argued that people should dare to know, and not settle for someone’s else point of view or accept strange stories from ancient times. He also said it is time for people of faith to grow up and cast aside their childish preoccupations. But check this out! Some of the great figures of our faith include St. Paul, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Bonaventure, St. Alphonsus Liguori, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. John Henry Newman, G. K. Chesterton, St. Pope John Paul II etc. You can say what you want about each of them, but one thing you cannot say is that they were unintelligent. They expose the lie of those who characterize faith as something meant for the unintelligent. Are there unintelligent people of faith? Absolutely! There are many of them around. But to describe faith as unintelligent is a big lie. Faith is not identical to lack of intelligence. In my years of study and in ministry, I have encountered plenty of intelligent people who are believers. 

New atheists are urging people to exercise their minds and to dare to know. I get that! But the problem with their advocacy is insisting that only modern analytical science is the model and paradigm of knowledge. Is science a good thing? No doubt! Science has given us a lot. However, it is not the be all and end all of knowledge. Science is like a bright light that shines on an object. It is analytical form of reason where the scientist asks the question, puts the object of his observation under a bright light, on a table, and tears it apart. Is this important? Yes! This kind of method will give you a certain kind of knowledge. But God cannot be analyzed scientifically the way one would analyze the things of the world. God is not a being in the world. The creator of the universe is not one object within the universe that can be known through analytical scientific observation. If you are asking for God’s existence know this now: no experiment can be performed that can reveal God’s existence. God is not the Bigfoot. He is not one of the items in the world. There are rational ways to approach God, however, they are not scientific. Why? Because God does not correspond to that kind of analysis. 

So, what’s the right approach to God? Faith! Does faith means stupidity and irrationality? Not at all. Faith is the proper rational way of approaching God. According to St. John Henry Newman, faith is the reasoning of the religious mind. A religious mind is the one that is preoccupied with God. The way the religious mind reasons is by faith, because God cannot be placed on the table, torn apart under a bright light of analytical reason. Faith is a questing and searching reason. That’s why prophet Isaiah describes God as a hidden God. That’s why God told Moses that you cannot see me and live. It is not because God is mean or punitive. It means that in this life you cannot see God as an object. So the proper response to God is faith, which is, the reasoning of the religious mind. 

With this background, let’s look at the second reading for today. Hebrews 11 talks about how the great figures in Israelite history related to God, how that relationship had to be one of faith and not controlled. It says, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was to go.” There are two things here: first of all, Abraham is not dealing with some rival tribal chieftain, not with a family member, not with some elder. He is dealing with God. Second point, God is not a force or principle. God is a person. God acts how he wants to act. Therefore, Abraham’s relationship to God has to be one of faith, which means trust. Not irrationality! Not superstition! Not lack of sophistication! The only proper response to God who is a free person is trust. Abraham went out not knowing where he was to go. Continuing, Hebrews says, “By faith he (Abraham) received power to generate, even though he was past the normal age— Sarah (his wife) was sterile— for he though that the one who had made the promise was trustworthy.” At their old age, they were promised that they will have their own child. Is this reasonable going by the method of science? No! But Abraham knew the one who made the promise was trustworthy. So, he believed him and believed in him. He had faith. Did Abraham acted irrationally and stupidly? Not at all. It was the proper reasoning of the religious mind. It is the act of trust in God’s providence and it gives rise to life. If you trust in God, what you will find is life in abundance, life you never dreamed possible. 

Finally, Hebrews says, “By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac… he was ready to offer his only son…” This is becoming very dramatic. It is not just a matter of believing in God. That’s just the first step. A lot of people will tell you they believe in God or believe in the existence of God. It is also not a matter of saying I will trust in God.   If God makes an impossible demand, what would you do? God told Abraham that even at old age he and his sterile wife, Sarah will have a child. Abraham believed. After the birth of Isaac, their only son, God promised Abraham that through Isaac descendants will bear his name. Abraham believed God. God turned around and demands that Abraham sacrifice his son, Isaac. Abraham still believed God. How come? The answer is in the last line of today’s reading: “He (Abraham) reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead…” It was the great philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard who said, “Faith is a passion for the impossible.” Faith is hoping against hope. It is trusting even when there is no ground to trust. Faith is radically turning your life over to God. It is an act of surrender to a mystery that we cannot in principle control, to the providential mercy and direction of God. Keep your faith in God alive and thriving. Ignore naysayers and those who mock you and call you stupid. On the last day, you will realize you made the best choice when your crown of glory and victory is given to you.