THEME OF THE READINGS
It was the way of those sent by God to meet with resistance, and even his Son, the longed-for Messiah, was no exception. It is hard for man in his pride and obstinacy to accept the ways of God and the apparent ´ordinariness´ in which his word (or Word) comes enveloped (First Reading and Gospel). But of course it is in human ordinariness, and even weakness, that the power of God most readily manifests itself, as St Paul testifies (Second Reading). Still, God has not willed us to be irrelevant: our power and abilities may not matter, but our freedom and our love do. To show his might God requires the human response of faith: where it is lacking, it is as if his hands were tied (Gospel).

DOCTRINAL MESSAGE
Faith. Though faith includes, necessarily, believing absolutely whatever God has revealed, it is first of all an adherence of the whole person to him (CCC 150). This is apparent in the great models of faith, such as Abraham and above all Mary, for whom it is presents more an ´existential´ demand than an ´intellectual´ one (though this is not absent). It is effectively a wagering of one´s whole life on the truth of God and of his word. It means basing everything on the conviction that God is, that he has spoken, and that what he has said is true with ironclad certainty. Those people are close to God who "live by faith", that is, for whom faith is the guiding principle behind every single one of their attitudes and actions.

We call it a "theological virtue" because not only is it what enables us to know God, but also is infused by him directly into the soul of each believer: it is purely his gift, not a human achievement. Nevertheless, because it is an act of the human intellect under the command of the will –in turn moved by God´s grace – it is an authentically human act requiring free and active human cooperation.

The challenges of faith. The exercise of the virtue poses a challenge to our human pride. This is not only because we are prone to give far more weight than they warrant to our more or less rational judgments. In order to speak to us, God "lowered himself" or "bent down to us"(katábasis), clothing his words in the Word, the man Jesus Christ, and in human individuals, institutions, actions and circumstances in which this divine economy of incarnation is prolonged – with all their weaknesses and limitations, for which he has a particular predilection (2R). It is something we often find hard to swallow.

Besides the difficulties more or less inherent in faith, other "unnecessary" ones appear. For example, misunderstandings prevalent among non-Catholic Christians about divine revelation. Is it necessary to say anything about "the brothers and sisters of Jesus"? Christian tradition from the beginning has maintained, very clearly, that not only was Jesus´ conception and birth miraculous, but that Mary remained for ever a virgin. So who were they? Cousins, more or less; not even necessarily close cousins. It´s not just that there are indications to that effect in the gospels themselves, or that in Scripture cousins and even more distant relatives are called "brothers", or that there weren´t separate words in the language for "siblings" and "cousins". The fact is, there weren´t separate words because, in a certain sense, there wasn´t a separate reality. People saw themselves as apart of a broad, extended family of uncles, aunts, cousins and so on. The "nuclear family" as we know it today simply didn´t exist. There is no warrant therefore for opposing Christian tradition on this score –even if Mary´s perpetual virginity weren´t (as it is) an irreformable truth of faith.

The whole attitude of such Christians is anachronistic and stems from trying to understand the faith outside the tradition in which it was born, as well as an a-critical approach to language. Catholics should be aware of these limitations, not let themselves be intimidated by arguments that are contrary to the faith of the Church, and have a serene, light-filled faith in what the Church teaches.

Catechesis: The theological virtue of faith, CCC 1812-16; cf. also 153-55.

PASTORAL APPLICATIONS
Like his contemporaries, we are just so used to Jesus. He´s just one of us. Human. Well, now wait a minute, there, Father. We all believe Jesus is divine as well as human. Really? In practice? Why, then, do we think that if there is something we can´t do, he can´t do it either? Is he just a paper tiger? A real God, or a kind of make-believe or theoretical God? Is God a man (cf. Hosea 11:9)? Well, yes, but he is a Man who is God. What miracles there would be around us, and in our own lives, if only we had faith!

Why don´t we believe? Is it pride that makes us think that our way of seeing things is the ´right´ one (and therefore God´s is wrong, unless he sees it as I do!) that makes us a "rebellious people". Or perhaps just plain human stupidity? But then, pride is stupidity! Very little reflection should be required to realize who´s got it wrong when my judgment is in contrast with God´s – even God´s judgment mediated through the Church´s teaching.

In our society, though, faith is often weak not so much because we´re hard-necked as because we´re lazy. Faith requires activity of the soul. And we´re just too often slaves of our senses, almost brain-dead. As a virtue faith is a supernatural habit, but we still need to form the human habit of looking at everything with eyes of faith. If you don´t, when you get up in the morning, deliberately "remind" yourself to see everything that happens in the day –good and bad – as a bearer of messages and graces for you personally from a God who loves you; if you don´t, when you come to Mass, pause for a moment to ask yourself what is going to take place in your very presence (the living sacrifice of Christ), and determine to forget everything else to enter into this extraordinary event; if you don´t, when you enter the church, make a genuflection with genuine reverence before the Blessed Sacrament; if you don´t, during the day, take time out – just a few seconds – to whisper a word now and then to the ever-present Lord… you may have a sort of faith, but it will be inoperative, purely theoretical. It won´t color your entire life as it should. What a loss that is! A real, live faith transforms our whole life. It makes you experience, every day, how marvelous it is to be Christian.