'Oh Ye of Little Faith'

It was a scheduled trip into the city to take in the sights and sounds of the season -to blend into the throngs of tourists from all over the world who see New York as a holiday mecca. I imagine many city dwellers tuck themselves safely into their apartments to avoid this annual, or perhaps daily, influx – just as we might do in summer months. Though rain was imminent the streets were a buzz with folks window-shopping, sightseeing, bustling, rushing- and maybe even searching. Aside from the traditional holiday hotspots it seemed that it could be any other day in the city. I wondered to myself if perhaps holiday spirit was wanning. Just as our pews are emptying, is faith emptying as well?

We live in a time when science is on hand to solve or disprove or rebuke nearly every mystery- some believe that those explanations, those theories, those concepts, take the place of faith – that there’s nothing left to believe in. Sunday mornings are often filled with soccer games and shopping outings, dance recitals and birthday parties. Is faith a challenge when so much of the miracle of life and space and time is being demystified? Is it the ‘we live until we die’ theory- so make the most of it? Or can we continue to lean into the mystery and invite faith to be our guide?

Well, as this wet, rainy, exhausting day turned into night, we stepped into Saint Patrick’s Cathedral as a momentary refuge from the elements –this is the place that sings of holy, and grandeur, and faith. A place where the commitment and vision of old-world faith captures our hearts and takes our breath away reminding us that maybe, just maybe there’s something more out there.

It surely felt like another Christmas miracle to see the altar filled with a choir of angels-maybe a hundred or more- young and old in rehearsal for a Christmas concert. I wondered what brought me there at that very moment? And within a second or two the organ signaled the choir to fill this holy canyon with the Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s Messiah. And in that moment this grand, glorious and enormous cathedral was filled with the sound of heaven –with a sound that filled and resonated within every cell of my being and reminded me that there is still room for faith, and spirit and miracles.

This special night the Choirs of the Church of St. Patrick, Huntington, NY; The Young People’s Chorus of New York; The St. Patrick’s Cathedral Choir and Organists; and New York Symphonic Brass were rehearsing selections for their concert the following evening. ‘Hallelujah’, filled the air as we were only steps away from Christmas.

Perhaps faith is not just a noun- not just an old coat in the closet that we used to wear-perhaps it is a verb that keeps coming up at these curious moments in time- at the moon and stars shining over us -the bird’s song- the ocean waves-and the birth of that tiny baby.