Faith: The Key That Unlocks The Gate Of Heaven

𝐍𝐎𝐕. 𝟏𝟎, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐓 𝐋𝐄𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓, 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈: 𝐖𝐢𝐬 𝟏:𝟏-𝟕

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟑𝟗:𝟑-𝟏𝟎 “𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐲.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐊 𝟏𝟕:𝟏-𝟔

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒅, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒍𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆, ‘𝒃𝒆 𝒖𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒂,’ 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖.” (𝒗.6) 

         Gospel passages which contain a succession of lessons that are at times disconnected show that Jesus was in a hurry to do as much as he can knowing that he only has a short three years to complete his earthly mission before he suffers his passion, death and resurrection. 

         This Gospel passage today is typical of such disjunctive teachings but from which we can derive at least three lessons nonetheless that will be of tremendous help to us in our own journey of faith. Though these three lessons in this passage may appear to be disconnected, they are in fact linked as all three scenarios lead us to a disposition that we as Christians must have.

        And here Jesus provides us with three examples of powers that are operative in us that we need to be aware of. Jesus starts by warning us of the power of temptation that confront us as we go through life. We are tempted by many things and most common is the internal desire to seek self-glorification, sex, alcohol, drugs, inordinate desire for wealth and power.

        But there are also times when temptations come from external sources such as from a person who leads us to sin without our even knowing it. Such temptations can come from disguised intentions such as a conversation that is directed towards certain individuals and situations that cloud our perceptions and leads us to become prejudicial towards these individuals and or situations.

         In whatever form it may come, what Jesus is warning us about is how Our Lord looks at those who cause others to sin. While (𝐯.𝟏) may have been directed at the Pharisees who teach the people to follow their hypocritical ways, those of us who cause others to sin are also being rebuked by Jesus. And the corresponding punishment that Jesus spoke of in (𝐯.𝟐) should serve as a grim reminder for us to be more circumspect in the way we relate and or lead others.

         This responsibility is greater for those who teach or preach because Our God will not look the other way if we lead others to the wrong way. This is, however, premised if the one who leads others to sin will remain oblivious to the sin he has committed because Jesus also prescribes a mechanism by which those who sin can be restored to fellowship with God and this is through the power of forgiveness.

         As Christians, we are told to forgive seven times. To forgive is to release the offender from any moral obligation or consequence. Perhaps the words of Jesus in 𝑳𝒌 6:27-28 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅: “𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒎𝒆: 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒅𝒐 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖.” Regardless of the wrong or sin that may have been done to us, this should remind us of what we need to do in situations when we are struggling on whether to forgive or not.

         All things considered, we as Christians can overcome whatever temptation we may face and whether we need to forgive or not through the power of faith in Our Lord in whom we can draw an example as when Jesus overcame his own temptation in the desert (𝐋𝐤 𝟒:𝟏-𝟏𝟑) and when he forgave his persecutors and executioners (𝐋𝐤 𝟐𝟑:𝟑𝟒) as he hung on the cross.

         What then is faith? Why is it necessary? Why, because faith is a gift of God since the power to believe can only be attained through the Grace of God who bestows the knowledge of the truth and the gift of faith on those who strive after it with perseverance, who live a God-fearing life and, who pray that they may find the truth.

         Although St. Paul tells us in 𝑬𝒑𝒉 2:8 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 “𝒃𝒚 𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔” we, as Catholics, still need to believe in the doctrines of our Catholic faith because the absence of such is like a home without a foundation.

         And just like a bell with a crack loses its value or when one disjointed note destroys the harmony of a melody, so the rejection by a person of even one of the doctrines of the Church makes faith impossible. Take for example the controversial proposal to legalize divorce, abortion and same-sex marriage in the Philippines. How a person who has been baptized into the Catholic faith support these proposed pieces of legislation, the ultimate end of which is to destroy life?

          Faith is like the root of a tree. A tree cannot exist without it. We too cannot exist nor hope to reach heaven without faith which is the key that opens the treasure-chest of all virtues. Faith is the lamp that will guide us in our journey towards our final destination.

         But faith alone is not sufficient. Our faith must be a living faith which means that we must add to it good works and we must confess it openly to others for 𝒇𝒐𝒓 “𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆, ‘𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅, 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅,’ 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏” (𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕 7:21).          

         If you will recall the foolish virgins also had faith but no works. Faith without works is like a tree without fruit or a lamp with no oil. But lest we be deviated from that which is necessary, good works can only be performed by someone who is clothed with sanctifying grace and who loves God in his heart. And one of the ways to practice our faith with works is by serving in a ministry or apostolate in our Church or Community especially in the difficult outreach missions where our faith is put to a test.

         As we are commanded to also confess our faith, we must tell everyone by standing as a witness as to how we have been saved by Our God who created us, by Our Lord Jesus Christ who redeemed us from eternal damnation and, by Our Lord the Holy Spirit who continues to sanctify the work of our hands. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘕𝘰𝘷. 10, 2025)