Ripples of Faith

A few weeks ago during Camp BASIC, St. Joseph’s annual middle school summer camp, one of our youth leaders said something in a testimony that’s really stuck with me. He was talking about his Confirmation saint and his reason for choosing that particular saint. He said that while he was researching possible patrons, he came across St. Francis Xaiver, who was a missionary throughout much of Asia. This teen said it was likely that Francis Xaiver had converted his ancestors, who lived in India. Then he said - “If it weren’t for St. Francis Xaiver, I probably wouldn’t be Catholic today.”  
 
Now, let’s just think about this for a second. St. Francis Xaiver lived across the globe, 500 years ago. But the effects of his faith span far beyond the constraints of space and time. His life of holiness is still affecting peoples’ lives today, all over the world, people that you and I know. That’s crazy! 
 
And then this crazy thought set off a chain reaction of more thoughts… 
 
Who are the people that first talked to my ancestors about Jesus? Who are the saints in heaven, named or unnamed, that I should be thanking for the Christian faith that’s been handed down to me? And then I started thinking about the people I’ve known throughout my life, who have given me an example of what it means to be a faithful disciple of Christ, to know, love and serve Him. Who are the people in their past that have affected their lives? There are so many people, past and present, I have never met that have had a hand in enriching my faith.
 
All these people who have gone before me and are currently going with me, living out their faith in a way that speaks and bears witness to the goodness of God – It’s wonderful! It’s what we’re made to do; It’s life lived to the fullest! And these beautiful, faith-filled lives ripple across the ages, gently loving us and reminding us that God is love and He is here and that He longs for us to know Him. These saints tell us that God longs to be in relationship with us, just as He is in relationship with them. 
 
But this kind of inspiring, passionate faith, this way of living that proclaims the glory of God through both word and deed, could people look at my life and say that I am living with that kind of faith? Is my belief in God, my relationship with Him, telling the world about Him, revealing His love? Is my faith bearing fruit in my life and the lives of others? Is yours? Are there people in your life right now, that could say – “Her. She’s the one who first showed me what it means to be kind” or “See that guy? He’s the one who first explained some of Jesus’s parables to me, and now I’ve started to look closer at the way I follow Christ.” Are you and I letting our relationship with God transform our lives and the lives of those around us?
 
Our faith, our belief in God and relationship with Him, while personal, is not our own. Our faith is meant to be lived out and it is meant to be a gift, not only to ourselves, but to our family and our friends and people we might never even meet, some that will live hundreds of years from now. 
 
One of the crazy things about God, is that He chooses to make us participants in His Divine Life. By coming to know and love Him, we are drawn into His sacrifice, His glory and His love. And because “God is love” (1 John 4:8), He desires always and everywhere to bring more and more people into that love. And, as participants in His Divine Life, He has designed it so that we are not just recipients of that love, but a vital part of bringing more people into it. God chooses to work through us, His Church. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he talks about this. Paul says that “we are God’s co-workers” (1 Cor 3:9a). In the world, God’s field, God will cause the growth, but we are called to plant and water. He chooses to make us a part of this process. If we don’t water or plant, it’s going to make it really hard for God to grow the faith and love of His people.   
 
So, I ask you, is your relationship with God planting seeds of faith in the lives of your family and friends? Do others see Christ in you, see the work that He is doing within you? If you answered “no”, I challenge you to look at your prayer, the way you interact with God. Take time to get to know Him better, because He longs to love and fill and transform. If you answered “yes”, thank God for His the fruit He has borne through your faith and keep praying to grow even closer to Him, so that He can continue to lead you. 
 
And just think about the ripples of faith, God’s love pulsing through His children. We are always called to enter deeper into that love, that we may bear witness to the good news of Christ, who has sent His Spirit to dwell within us. Through our participation in this Divine Life, God is seeking to transform the world in the present age and in the years to come.