The Fantastics, more than four

XIX Sunday “C” Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-12 Brothers and sisters: Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. Because of it the ancients were well attested. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was to go. By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs of the same promise; for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and maker is God. By faith he received power to generate, even though he was past the normal age —and Sarah herself was sterile—for he thought that the one who had made the promise was trustworthy. So it was that there came forth from one man, himself as good as dead, descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sands on the seashore.

Last night I went with our seminarians to see the movie The Fantastic Four: about superheroes. The fantastic four gained superpowers after being exposed to cosmic rays when they were on a scientific mission The leader of the group is Mr. Fantastic a scientist and he is able to stetch his body. Susan, his wife can make herself invisible. Her brother the human torch can generate flames and fly and the Thing has rock like skin and has super strength and endurance. The movie is about the four of them learning that they have superpowers and then learning how to use them. Today’s second reading, the letter to the Hebrews talks about other superheroes. Men and women who like the fantastic four who were able to do fantastic things. As the writter says, “heroes of faith, who had conviction about things unseen.” They weren’t able to twist their body into amazing shapes or become invisible but Abraham and Sarah gave birth despite their old age and “had descendants as numerous as the stars in sky or sands at the seashore.” The letter to the Hebrews reminds us Abel and his offerings, Noah and his ark, dying Jacob blessing his sons; Moses leading the nation from slavery in Egypt to freedom in Israel. And the list goes on, all heroes of faith who did not live to see the promise fulfilled. I think of heroes of faith in our own congregation. Alphonsus whose vision began our community but died outside of the congregation. Clement who lead the Redemptorists out of Italy and was responsible for the spread of the congregation even though every thing he started failed and there was no permanent foundation until after his death. Saint John Neuman and Blessed Seelos who began the congregation in the United States. I think of heroes of faith here in Mexico. Juan Diego who had the courage to go to the bishop three times insisting that the Virgen had appeared to him. Felipe de Jesus who losts his life in Japan; Jose Sanchez del Rio a 15 year old boy who witnessed to the faith; and Miguel Pro who couldn’t be intimadated by the president but continued to minister right in the streets of Mexico City. I think of Heroes of the faith of my own lifetime: the women in our parish in Havana who camped out in their chapel to make sure that it wasn’t taken over by the government. The migrants in the church in the United States who are revitalizing communities that were once dead or dying. Think of heroes of the faith in your own lifetime: a grandmother, a spouse, a friend. Someone who witnessed to the faith despite incredible odds against them. Maybe some of you here are heroes of faith. Hebrews says, “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” And he continues saying “Because of it the ancients were well attested” Each one of us is called to be a hero of faith. We might not be as hard as a rock or able to turn into a torch but we are called to be part of the great cloud of witnesses. Great things happened in the past because there were men and women of faith, great things continue to happen today; we continue to come hope for things that we cannot yet see.