Fr. Michael Williams

If we look at the Bible carefully we discover that it contains many stories about people who placed God at the centre of their lives. We can also see that these same people often suffered many trials and tribulations. In the Old Testament there is Job, who is described as “a sound and honest man who feared God”. But in the Book of Job, Job suffers terrible losses: he loses his family; his livelihood; and finally his health. His faith is severely tried during this period of loss. He says to God, “remove your hand, which lies so heavy on me” (13-14). Nevertheless, Job ultimately keeps faith with God and says, “The Lord gave, the Lord has taken back. Blessed be the name of the Lord”.

And in the New Testament there is Paul, who tells the Christians at Corinth, “Five times I have been given the thirty-nine lashes by the Jews; three times I have been beaten with sticks, once I was stoned, three times I have been shipwrecked, and once I have been in the open sea for a night and a day”. Nevertheless, Paul keeps faith with Christ who has been “redeemed in Christ Jesus”.

These stories of people keeping faith with God, amidst the trials and tribulations of life, do not just belong to the Bible however. Think of Abigail Witchalls, the young pregnant mother from Surrey, who was stabbed in the neck, which has left her paralysed. Her husband has said, “Obviously, she has been thinking ‘why did this happen, why am I suffering like this”? But she has kept faithful and is putting her trust in the Lord. This husband and wife are clearly being sustained by their faith in the Lord, who always asks us to forgive those who trespass against us. To forgive is to do “the will of the father in Heaven”: not to forgive is to risk hearing the Lord say to us, “away from me, you evil men”. Abigail, and her family have suffered greatly, nevertheless they are putting their trust in God.

Every day we see people in this hospital suffering from many different illnesses, which are a kind of trial, yet the depth of faith many people have in Christ, shows that they are the “sensible people who are founded on the rock”, that is God. They are like the psalmist who prays, “In you, O Lord, I take refuge…hear me and speedily rescue me”. Faith is more powerful than any trial, it’s even more powerful than sickness and death itself. That’s why Jesus could pray on the cross, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit”. Jesus put His faith in the Father, amidst his own trials.

Jesus tells us in the gospel that “everyone who listens to these words of mine will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock”. Listening to the words of Jesus, which are often very challenging, and never fluffy, and then putting those words into practice in our lives, is to build on rock. When the rain comes, and the floods rise, and the gales blow, we won’t be swept away. Rather we will stand firm “through faith”, which is a supernatural gift of the Holy Spirit, whereas the storms of this life are only natural and are passing away. On the horizon we can already glimpse the Sun of Justice, Christ our Lord, so with the psalmist let us always “hope in the Lord”, because He is “the mighty stronghold to save us, our rock, who leads us and guides us”.