The prophet Habakkuk, in today’s First Reading, stresses the power of faith — he also gives us a clearer idea of what exactly faith is.

Habakkuk lived in the 6^th century BC, when Israel had been conquered by the Babylonians and the majority of Jews had been deported. It was as if a hurricane, like Katrina, had swept over not just one city, but the entire country. Habakkuk is in the middle of it all, he sees the devastated city and countryside, strewn with corpses, burned and barren.

Habakkuk feels the pinch of poverty and destruction. And he does the most natural thing in the world: he complains to God about it:

How long, O Lord? I cry for help, but you do not listen! More…