
What happened on that night when Abram was executing his divided attention, as he was watching the stars and listening to God, reveals to us how faith happens in us. It comes from the listening to the Word of God. Once a teenager said to me: “You know Father, Mass would be much better if you skipped the readings and your talk.” I responded: “I appreciate your constructive criticism of my homilies but when it comes to Scripture readings they are crucial to us. Without them, without the Word of God, you would never be able to look at the host and say it is Jesus.”
Let me stress it again: We believe, we put our faith in God because God has spoken to us first. However it is not a piece of magic or hypnosis. God can speak to us and we don’t end up having faith, because faith needs our personal adherence to God. It is not something private but something that engages our whole existence. It means that when I look at the host at Mass I not only say: It is Jesus, my Lord and Saviour, but I also desire to live such a life that in me others can see Jesus. Why? Because Jesus’ life is the life; the life which gives us peace, fulfilment and meaning. That’s why when a minister of Holy Communion elevates a host or a chalice in front of us saying: “The Body of Christ. The Blood of Christ.” We respond by saying: Amen. It means that we believe that it is Jesus, but it also means that we believe that with God’s grace we can live such a live that there is no discrepancy between what we profess and what we live.
I would also like to draw your attention to the last word of the Creed we recite every Sunday and Solemnity. It is again: Amen. This Amen is like your signature on a statement. After having gone through all those articles of the Creed you say that it is your way of life, that in the past week, with God’s grace, you have strived to live them and that in the coming week, with God’s grace, you will continue to do live that Creed.
To finish let me take you to the final Book of the Holy Scriptures, the Book of the Apocalypse. Let’s go to the very last word of that Book which is Amen. It means that after having read, listened and shared the Word of God contained in this Sacred Work of the Holy Spirit the only thing we can say is Amen. I believe in each and every word there, for God’s Glory, for my salvation and for the inspiration of others.