When Jesus was rejected by the people of His own hometown of Nazareth, Jesus was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying His hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. (cf. Mark 6:5-6)
What is faith? According to the Letter to the Hebrews, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (RSV Hebrews 11:1)
Faith assures us of things that we hope for – not necessarily that what we ask for will be granted in the way we expect it, but that it will be granted in the way that God deems best for us.
Faith is the unwavering conviction of the things we believe in – particularly in things we do not see or have not seen. For example, we believe that the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Christ, even though what we see is only the form of bread and wine. Faith applies also to things we have not experienced. For example, some people may have experienced the extraordinary presence of God at one point or another in their lives, but those who haven’t but still have an unwavering conviction that God is present in their lives have faith.
Is our faith based on what we have seen or experienced in life? If so, remember what Jesus said to Thomas: “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” (John 20:29)
Chapter 11 of the Letter to the Hebrews gives an inspiring account of the faith of notable persons in the Old Testament: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, etc. The Letter to the Hebrews tells us that all of them died in faith; they did not receive what had been promised but saw it and greeted it from afar and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth. (Hebrews 11:13)
The Letter to the Hebrews also tells us about the judges, the prophets and the Maccabean martyrs of the Old Testament; they did not accept deliverance even when tortured, in order to obtain a better resurrection. They endured mockery, scourging, even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, sawed in two, put to death at sword’s point. The world was not worthy of them. Yet, they did not receive what had been promised, for God had foreseen something better for them. (cf. Hebrews 11:36-40) What God had in store for all these persons of faith that is better than anything else on earth was eternal life.
Some people think how wonderful it would be if they had no more problems in life, no more pain and suffering, no more difficult relationships. But faith is not based on how good we have it on earth. Faith is about what we hope to get in the next life – which is eternal life.
The faith of the persons mentioned in the Letter to the Hebrews also holds true for the Holy Martyr Saints of China. A total of 120 martyrs were canonized as Saints. They died from the 17th century to 1930. These martyrs include 87 native Chinese and 33 foreign missionaries; among the 87 were 4 Chinese priests, lay men, women and children with ages ranging from 9 to 72. Among them were the 9-year olds St. Andrew Wang Tianqing and St. Paul Lang Fu, 11-year old St. Mary Zheng Xu, and the 14-year olds St. Anna Wang and St. Simon Qin Cunfu. These Chinese martyrs were forerunners to about 30,000 others who were martyred during the Boxer Rebellion in China which began in the late 19th century.
The story of St. Ann Wang has become an inspiration to many people: In July of 1900, the Boxers approached the village where Anna Wang lived; she took shelter in the nearby Catholic school with a group of Catholic women. With determination in her eyes, Anna led the women in prayer and helped them persevere in their faith through her words of encouragement. Eventually a group of Boxers reached the school, and the leader told the women to renounce God or die. As the Boxers led away Anna’s stepmother, Anna cried out, “I want to believe in God. I want to remain a Catholic. I do not want to leave the Church! Jesus help me!” The next day, the Boxers took the women to their execution and once more demanded that they renounce their faith. Anna responded by kneeling, holding her hands towards heaven, and calmly saying, “The door of heaven is open for all!” She whispered, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus” as she was killed. Witnesses spoke of her bravery and peace. Anna was confident in Jesus’ love for her and the promise of eternal life in heaven with Him. Perhaps Anna never read the Letter to the Hebrews, but she knew in her heart and soul that what God had in store for her was more precious than earthly life itself – eternal life.