19th Sunday

19th Sunday Ordinary
August 8, 2004

" Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen... Abraham sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country, and dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob... for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and maker is God." (Hebrews 11) ...Where your treasure is, there also will your heart be." (Luke 12:32-48)
I remember learning in the third grade the answer to the question in the Baltimore Catechism, "What are the three theological virtues?...The three theological virtues are faith, hope and charity". The letter to the Hebrews describes perfectly the nature of faith. "Faith" in the biblical sense is an inner confidence that God's promise, and our hopes based on it, will come true. Belief in creeds and doctrines only makes sense in this context. Without faith, hope and love, "beliefs" have no heart, soul or purpose.
When we live in this faith, we already live in the "city with foundations", in eternity. "Heaven" becomes something much more tangible and real, especially when we add the ingredient of love for each other. Living in faith, hope and love is to already be in the "promised land" of heaven. In this sense our patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob waited for something greater and more permanent even in the promised land. Outside of a life lived within the "three theological virtues", there are no sacred places. Within it, every place and every relationship is sacred.
How much conflict and human misery over the centuries, up until the present moment, over who gets access to the "sacred places" could have been avoided if we had paid better attention to this truth. Our intense controversies about the correctness of our doctrines, which places are sacred, the rightness of our causes, etc. take us farther away from the "city with foundations". They are seductive because they lead us to think that we are being religious and spiritual, "defending the faith". Faith does not have to be "defended". It speaks for itself because it simply is.
The gospel of Luke continues to recount Jesus' teachings about the relationship between earthly and spiritual wealth. We know our treasure by what we want most. As we noted last week, Jesus does not suggest here that there is an opposition between the two. We create the opposition in our own minds, then label it as "reality". As I basked in the loving care of so many family members and friends these past several weeks I was made aware in a very concrete and tangible way that eternity is the reality, this life of time and space is the illusion. I am already in heaven. Divine reality shifts our attention to the only thing which endures and connects us already with the life of heaven -- the quality and integrity of our relationships with each other and God. We only have what we share. This week we have an opportunity to meditate on what kind of city we are building, and where our treasure is being stored.
Loris Buccola