Look back with faith

The first readings at weekday Masses recently have stepped us through the book of Genesis, from the time of Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel to the time of Noah and the Flood.

Today’s first reading (Hebrews 11:1-7) looks back at some of the people of those times from the perspective of faith, beginning with this famous description of what faith is:

Faith is the realization of what is hoped for
and evidence of things not seen.

Looking back with the eyes of faith, the sacred writer sees how faith was at work in the lives of those people: in things great and small.

As we approach the season of Lent, considering perhaps what special activity we may do during this season, we might take the opportunity of today’s first reading to look back with faith on our own lives and realize how faith and the grace of God have been at work in us, even when we might not have felt it.