Think about when someone’s gesture of love or care was helpful when you needed it most. How did you feel about it? I have had many of those moments, and one often comes to mind. It happened when I was a kid.
Someone I least expected showed me an act of love and sacrifice, defending me when I couldn’t protect myself. He saved me from his relative, a bully. He made me realize I could stand against the meanness of the bully even if the bully was a member of his family. Later, I learned that his love for God fueled his love for others and his fight for justice. I found myself wanting that kind of faith that does justice.
The experience was one of the encounters that opened my eyes to the transformative power of living faith. Faith is more than just belief; it is a commitment to listening, obeying, and acting on God’s word for the betterment of the world. Today’s reflection explores this connection between faith, listening, obedience, and action and how it can bring about profound change not only in our own lives but also in the lives of those around us.
We Learn to Adjust
In every profession—whether medicine, engineering, teaching, or technology—people spend years learning and training so they can put their skills into practice.
Deeper learning involves self-reflection. Richer self-reflection involves self-adjustment (self-regulation)—change. Thus, gaining knowledge without ever putting it into action is as good as dead. The valid proof of learning comes when we apply what we learn and when we live it out.
People glimpse what is happening in our minds and intellect through what we say, write, and do. No matter how we pretend about the musings of the inner heart, our actions loudly utter them. Those actions reveal what we learned and understood about life and the world in which we live. The ideas we take in and the thoughts we cherish significantly guide our actions and decisions.
Spiritual Life is an Invitation to Listen, Reflect, and Act
The above principle holds true in our spiritual lives. In the book of Isaiah, the prophet reflects on his experience as one God calls and chooses. He says, “The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him that is weary. Morning by morning he wakens, he wakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious” (Isaiah 50:4-5).
Isaiah is a great example of living faith. He listens and obeys God’s teachings, although what God asks of him is far from easy. From the Divine Word, he learns how to respond and adjust his life and mission. The tasks bring challenges, persecution, and hardships, yet Isaiah does not turn away. Instead, he chooses to follow through, no matter the cost.
This prophecy, as the early Church Fathers understood, also points to Christ. Jesus taught his disciples what it meant to follow him: “If anyone would come after me,” he says, “let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mark 8:34-35).
To Listen is to Act
The word “obedience” comes from the Latin ob-audire, meaning “to hear” or “to listen.” Faith as a concept draws from the same word, ob-audire. When God calls, he asks us to listen and obey. His voice stirs us, inspiring us to act upon what we hear. Acting on what we hear is living faith, which begins within us as the seed of faith grows by the incredible power of grace. As the seed takes root, transformation occurs.
Faith is about listening and following God’s voice, even when it is difficult. True discipleship isn’t about choosing only the easy or pleasant parts of the journey and ignoring the hard ones. Often, it involves sacrifice and choosing what is right over the easy or popular.
Living Faith Embraces Discipleship
Following Christ means saying no to sinful desires and standing up against evil and injustice, even if it costs us friendships or popularity. It’s about choosing to honor commitments, such as marriage, even when others, including our closest friends, see such faithfulness as outdated. It’s also about being patient and kind in our interactions, forgiving those who have wronged us, and showing compassion to those in need.
Discipleship also involves courageously embracing discomforts, like getting up on a cold Sunday morning to attend church, even when we’d rather stay in bed. Our lives become acts of worship to our Creator and expressions of love to our neighbor. It’s about stopping at a homeless shelter to serve those in need, even when inconvenient or uncomfortable. This commitment to discomforts is a testament to our courage and unwavering loyalty to Christ.
To follow Christ means loving those who hate us, even when doing so feels like weakness. It is about bringing light into the world’s dark places, refusing to gossip even if it means losing friends. It involves resisting the urge to spread harmful messages online or share fake news and holding back words that could cause harm. In other words, the beauty of living faith lies in soaking the marred walls of human brokenness with the hue of divine affection.
A Faith that Does Justice
Ultimately, our actions reveal the depth of our faith. And our living faith (faith in action) reveals the depth of our love. As Saint James says, “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:17).
Let us remember that our faith is not just a belief but a commitment to live out God’s word in our daily lives. Let us pray for the grace to live out our faith in both word and action. Amen.
As you reflect on this message, consider the following. How would I apply the lessons of faith, listening, and action in my life? In what ways have I recently put a smile on someone else’s face? What should I do to make the world I live in a better place?
