October 8, 2022 – Saturday of the 27^th Week in Ordinary Time

Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100822.cfm)

How does my faith in God mold may ways of thinking, behaving and speaking? How does my faith in God play a role in my relationships, in my career and profession, in my studies and endeavors? How does my faith in God transform me as a person?

These questions would be very good to take into our heart and see how our Christian faith works in our life. Having faith is not limited with doing religious practices and faithfully observing religious obligations. Having faith is not limited on Sundays as well or during seasonal religious celebrations during Holy Week or Christmas only. When faith is only a “part” in our life, then faith becomes our extra-curricular activity.  Faith is a way of life and as Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said, “faith is our human response of love to God who first loved us.”

Faith, therefore, is a human response, an active response of love. This response is basically spontaneous, neither obligated nor mandated by any law. It’s spontaneous because it comes from a heart filled with so much love and gratitude to God. Consequently, faith brings us into an intimate relationship with God who calls us and loves us first. “Through faith we become children of God in Christ Jesus,” as St Paul reminds us today in his letter to the Galatians. And because we are made children of God, it is only right that we call each other sisters and brothers and breaking any division caused by hatred and indifference among us. We become one in Christ Jesus. This is what it means to be a Community of Faith.

Moreover, in today’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us that “blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” And Mary, the mother of Jesus and our mother heard the word of God, accepted and embraced the word in her whole life and let the word to grow within her. This is how faith in the life of Mary transformed her life because the Word of God grew in her heart and was made flesh through her. In that way, the life of Mary became an instrument of bringing God’s presence to all.

This is also how we are called today as we accept and embrace the gift of faith, to let it grow in our hearts, in our lives and allow the Lord to transform our whole life. May our thoughts, actions, words and our relationships, work and our very person become ways of loving that bring blessing to all. Kabay pa.