God greatly exalted him (Phil 2, 9)
No one has greater faith than the one who, feeling totally forsaken and helpless, still commends his spirit into the hands of the Father. Whoever believes in this greatest Believer and catches his faith will be saved.
Faith, in part, is the evidence of things not seen. Hence, those who have it see beyond appearances. They are different from us—“ready cash is the only wealth we understand” (St. Teresa of Ávila). Neither are they like those who seemed to have been aware of only the present, grumbling repeatedly against God on account of the difficulties of the moment, without remembering the slavery and oppression God had brought them out of “with his strong hand and outstretched arm, with terrifying power, with signs and wonders.”
No, true believers do not put God to the test nor do they doubt him. They know that all things work for the good of those who love God, even if it seems to them that everything is headed for failure, to use ideas and words that come from St. Paul and St. Vincent de Paul (Coste XI:39-40). They put their absolute trust in God, not in wealth, not in other passing things that ultimately never comfort nor satisfy, not in their mental or emotional toughness, not in their intelligence and skills.
So then, they take as blessedness what many consider misfortune. With the light of faith, they see more than what meets the eye. They perceive, for example, in the poor the presence of the Son of God (Coste XI:32). They see salvation in perdition, exaltation in crucifixion, life in death.
The deadly venom that oozes from the malcontents no longer affects those who trust in God. The faithful do not harbor any resentment. Jesus has already removed it from them, nailing it to the cross. And it is the cross that the Lord’s Poor, “people who have nothing but their faith in God” (Pagola), look at. Hence, enkindled in them is a greater faith, like the faith of the one who has been tested like us in every way, yet without sin. The Crucified one encourages them to let themselves be crucified and slain, exalted and saved, through him, with him and in him.
Essentially, the Eucharist is all about this, that is to say, about Jesus’ descent to earth and ascent to heaven, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life—though, in this regard, the senses are deficient and only faith suffices (Pange Lingua).
Ross Reyes Dizon
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