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Salvation: Having faith and giving thanks to God

	Word to Life  Sharon K. Perkins

I was sitting in the waiting room of the intensive care unit a few weeks ago, seeing about my father who had been in a farming accident that easily could have killed him.

As he remembers it, he called out to Jesus to save him while waiting for help, and when the emergency vehicles pulled up to prepare him for transport to the hospital, he knew that he had been heard. He also realized that God still has a purpose for his life, and so he looks forward to his recovery with great expectation.

As concerned friends and relatives trickled in and out of ICU throughout the weekend, my mother and my siblings told my dad's tale repeatedly, each time refining the details as the story took shape, always ending with thanks to the Lord for sparing his life.

First Sunday of Lent (Sunday, Feb. 25, 2007) Deuteronomy 26:4-10 Psalm 91:1-2, 10-15 Romans 10:8-13 Luke 4:1-13

It has become our family story of salvation (one of many) by a God whose angels must surely have been present to protect him from serious harm. And although I took digital photographs, it is the verbal retelling of the story that truly sparks the imagination and causes its hearers to marvel at God's goodness.

Another salvation story is featured in today's first reading from Deuteronomy. It's not a long narrative, but it features concrete historical details - a place, a time, and a people - that make the event of God's salvation more than simply wishful thinking or a tall tale. In its retelling to each new generation, it becomes their own profession of faith and a motivation to again give thanks to God.

The psalm and the epistle to the Romans each pick up the theme of calling upon the Lord and being answered - a subsequent retelling of the story of salvation for future generations of believers. In the Gospel, Jesus himself drew from this collective memory by responding to the devil's seductive claims with the Scriptures he had learned from childhood. Armed with the sure knowledge of his Father's ability to save, Jesus was able to withstand temptation and proceed to his earthly ministry in power and single-mindedness.

	Reflection questions • What is your story of deliverance in all its rich detail? • When did you last inspire another person to faith with the telling of your story?

Each of us probably has a story of deliverance, perhaps against the odds, which convinced us that we, too, have been preserved for a larger purpose. Remembering that story - and retelling it - gives glory to God and strengthens the faith of its hearers.

This column is presented in cooperation with the North Texas Catholic of Fort Worth, Texas.