Inbox Inspiration: February 4, 2026: A Litany of Trust - 1

 

INBOX INSPIRATIONS

February 4, 2026

 

A Litany of Trust - 1

 

Dear Friends,

An essential part of faith is trust in God. It is a core quality if we are to have a life-giving, lasting, and deep relationship with God.

What is trust? It is the inner confidence that another person will treat you with care and respect. It is the feeling of assurance that you will be safe with that person, that you will not be taken advantage of and can be vulnerable with them. Trust is also the confidence that the other person will be reliable and will do what they say they will do.  

 

Faith is not just a list of beliefs or moral laws. It is fundamentally a relationship with God or Jesus. Because of that, we can even say that faith is trust in God or Jesus.  

 

Isn’t trust needed in any close or intimate relationship? Is it not essential in a relationship between husband and wife, or between a parent and son or daughter? Would a friendship deepen or endure without trust? Would two close friends consider marriage if they if did not trust one another? 

 

Belief is part of faith, but it is different from trust. Belief entails my acceptance of certain truths about God. The statements in our Profession of Faith at Mass are a good example of this. These are beliefs and they are important and essential.

 

The difference between belief and trust is something like this. With belief, I believe that these things are true about this person, God. With trust, I go beyond belief and stake my life on God. I am willing to do what God or Jesus teaches. I feel assured that God or Jesus will be with me in my entire human journey and that what they promise about resurrection from the dead will happen.

Maybe another way of saying this is that trust is something like going from head to heart – from saying that I think this is true about God (belief) to entrusting my entire life and way of life to God (trust). 

 

So, coming to trust God and entrusting ourselves to God is a crucial part of faith. Because I see this trust as so important, next week I will share a Litany of Trust that we can pray as a way to deepen our relationship with God. 

 

Fr. Michael Schleupner

Inbox Inspiration: January 28, 2026: The Diabolical Divides

 

INBOX INSPIRATIONS

January 28, 2026

 

The Diabolical Divides

 

Dear Friends,

Our English word diabolical is derived from two Greek words: dia and ballo. Together, they literally meant to throw across. More figuratively, they meant to split apart, divide, put at odds, slander or falsely accuse. In ancient Greek, a person was called a diabolos who was a slanderer, accuser, or backbiter. The Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible used this word diabolos as meaning Satan. 

Our English word diabolical means like the devil, wicked, or cruel. The sense of separation or division is very much at the core of our word diabolical. One who causes division or separation or puts people at odds with one another is diabolical. Such a person is like the devil.  

 

Jesus’ life, his preaching and his practice are the opposite of diabolical. He brings together, unites, and reconciles. Let’s look at some examples.

v Jesus prays for unity. “I pray…that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us…” (John17:20-21).

v Jesus tells the parables of restoring to the fold the lost sheep, of finding the lost coin, and of forgiving the lost son – all stories of restoring unity and making things or persons one (Luke 15:1-32).

v In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus even calls us to love our enemies. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor but hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you…” (Matthew 5:43-45). Could there be a clearer teaching about seeing oneness with others and about praying or working to achieve it?  

v Even Jesus’ healing of the ten lepers is an act of making them one. He restores them to the community and brings about social and religious unity (Luke 17:11-19).

v Finally, Jesus makes our care of the marginalized – the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, the imprisoned – he makes this a supreme moral norm (Matthew 25:31-46). He wants us to see our oneness with these persons and care for them as such.  

 

Jesus is about bringing people together, making people one, restoring unity. That is also what we as his disciples are to do. We are to avoid and resist the diabolical where it exists.       

  

Fr. Michael Schleupner