A Witness Of Courageous Faith
As I sat in the pew listening to the homily on the thirty-second Sunday in ordinary time, I struggled to focus. You see, the week before on Sunday morning, as I was leaving church, I received the news that my sister was on a life-flight helicopter enroute to University of Louisville hospital. As I tried to focus on the homily, my mind kept drifting in and out of thoughts about the past week and her struggle for survival. Then, as if the volume on the microphone was suddenly turned up, I heard these three words, loud and clear—“faith takes courage.”
After mass, I reflected on the homily and those three words in particular. Without a doubt I saw faith and courage working through our family as all of us tried to cope with the unknown. I took it upon myself during those early hours of uncertainty to share one of my favorite scripture verses with my family: “To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see”(Hebrews 11:1 ). Without a doubt, it takes courage to believe in and act upon these words.
As that first week progressed, I witnessed many courageous acts of faith. We were and still are sure of what we hope for, and that is for my sister’s full recovery. We are certain that God is with us, although we cannot see him. We have all pulled together in support of one another and in particular are doing what we can to “be there” for her husband and three sons. There is one witness though, that has completely blown me away. As I write this article I am in utter amazement of the witness of my sister’s middle son, who is an eighth-grader. He is an inspiration.
He has become a prayer warrior. In the early hours of uncertainty, he took walks as he cried and prayed. He invited others to pray with him. At one point in my sister’s room in the intensive care unit, he asked everyone to pray “with” his mom and he led the prayer. I found this to be profound because at that point, she was still unresponsive and had not yet opened her eyes, so to think of it as praying “with” her instead of “for” her revealed to me the depth of his faith. He truly believed she could hear us and pray with us. He has made inspirational faith-centered posters to hang in her room. I am also aware that he has encouraged his dad to pray the rosary in the long hours spent at the hospital, offering assistance by sharing with him a printed guide for praying the rosary.
I come from a large family. I have four sisters and two brothers. Family gatherings consist of about 40 people. The majority of us are older than this nephew. It would seem more likely that someone more mature in faith would be giving witness to these courageous acts of faith. So you can see why I stand in awe of this young man who is of junior high age. Instead falling apart or waiting for someone to console him, he has become our rock and our inspiration.
As we all face trials each day, let us all pray for one another that we might search the depths of our hearts for the kind of faith that mirrors my nephew’s witness. As it comes to the surface, may we have the courage to share our witness of faith as lovingly and freely as he has shared his.
