FR. THANH’S MAILBOX
8/21/2022
FAITH MEANS TAKING CHANCES

Dear parishioners and friends in Christ,
We are living in a time of uncertainty. With the downturn in the economy, the unrest in the world, especially in Ukraine, and numerous other things here in the United States and elsewhere, things will get worse before they get better.

Living in such a time, we quickly realize that we are not in control of the physical world. The challenge we face now is to have faith in God and not lose hope for the future. If God worked wonders in the past, he can repeat them in the present and the future. We surely cannot afford to believe that God lives only in the past, and not in the future. In times of crisis, when we enter the dark valley of our lives, faith is imperative!

We are familiar with Jesus‘ words to his disciples:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Have faith in God and faith in me.” (John 14: 1).

In a sense, he says the same thing to you and me today. To be true, you and I will never lose our faith because it is part of our make-up. If we do not put our faith in God, we will likely put our faith elsewhere. Each of us has enough of this raw material in life. The only thing we need to do is to put it into practice. In other words, faith means taking chances, and where there are risks, there will always be failures.

Some things in life we can only learn by trying them out for ourselves.
* You cannot learn how to be courageous by just reading adventure stories.
* You cannot learn how to be a loving person just by reading romantic poetry.
But better to fail in an attempt at courage than to succeed in an act of timidity.

Christian discipleship is a way of living, and living is always an adventure of faith. No one knows how it will turn out until they try it. Jesus asks you and me to take a similar chance on him. He invites us into a relationship. But the only ones who will ever know for sure are those who try it.

Faith means taking chances.
Peace,
Fr. Thanh