True faith is not based on signs and wonders. Jesus did not need to "come down" to the court official's son to touch him! The implicit faith of the father in Jesus' word is enough. "Go home your son will live!" How many of us would have acted like this father, who started on his way home, trusting in the words of Jesus?

God's healing is instantaneous for those who believe against all odds.We need to live our faith in practical terms not in performing some pious rituals. We need to: launch out into the unknown; to take that leap in the dark; to move away from ritualism; to know God and we are one; to follow the saints and mystics ...like John the Baptist,who belonged to the priestly caste yet left it all behind him to preach repentence for sins to the ordinary folk; like Jesus, a Rabbi, who walked the the streets of Judea and Galilea, healing the sick and comforting the lost; like Paul, who gave up his status, earning his living as a tent-maker, preaching the word of God and bearing in his body the sufferings of his Lord.

Let's walk this Year of Faith in humility and openness to God's word.