Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator
Chapter eleven of the Letter to the Hebrews is without a doubt one of my favorite Scriptures. It has been called the "Faith Hall of Fame" and lists the many people of the Hebrew Scriptures who have been inducted into that group that can only be called the "Heroes of Faith." I have long maintained that a when doubts or tests of faith creep into my life, all I need do is to read this wonderful chapter of the Christian Scriptures.
The calendar played some tricks with us this year. Because of the Feast of the Presentation which we celebrated on Saturday, we did not read the first verses of chapter eleven and pick up the reading in the middle of the chapter. (Of course, the presider always has the option of proclaiming the preceding or following verses of the reading if they have been omitted for such reasons. Unfortunately, I have never known anyone to do this.) So I would encourage all of you to pick up your Bible and to read the entire chapter. Not only is the sense of the reading a source of encouragement, it is a wonderful review of Hebrew Bible History.
None of us gets through life without some discouragement, periods of depression or feeling blue, etc. It is only natural. However when we stop to consider the many people who acted because they believed that God would fulfill the promise made after the fall of Adam, even though they did not live to see that promise fulfilled, it is much easier to deal with such discouragement. God is faithful. Let us always try to live out that fidelity in our own lives.