Jesus, The Pioneer and Perfecter of Our Faith

By Fr. Christopher Foeckler, MJ • Phoenix, AZ

As we move into the heart of the season of Lent and fast approach the Sacred Mysteries of our Faith in the Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord, let us do as the Church exhorts us to and “listen more intently to the Word of God devoting themselves to prayer, and thus being prepared through a spirit of repentance to renew baptismal promises” (Ceremonial of Bishops, 249).

One passage to reflect more deeply on the meaning of Lent, among myriad possibilities, is from the Letter to the Hebrews 12:1-4:

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before Him He endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken His seat at the right of the throne of God. Consider how He endured such opposition from sinners, in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.” 

One succeeds at Lent, and in the broader sense of Christian salvation itself as the Letter is really exhorting, if we focus on “Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith”, and not simply on our sins and faults or even on the voluntary penances to rid ourselves of them. Purgation is indeed a necessary step on the way to perfection, it is something like shedding the extra pounds of ill-gotten gain from the intemperance of daily life. It is moreover something we must pay attention to on a continual basis. Yet, without daily meditation on Jesus, we would lose the real and lasting motivation to even run the race with and toward Him!

On His final journey to Jerusalem, Jesus outpaced the disciples who were burdened with sorrow at the three-fold prediction of His pending doom. (cf. Mk 10:32) As such, He was the “pioneer and perfecter of our Faith” – the one blazing the trail, showing the way and widening the winners’ circle. But consider especially the endurance of the Lord, how He pushed through the pain “for the sake of the joy that lay before Him” and endured all so that we might “not grow weary and lose heart”! 

His struggle against sin included the shedding of blood – His own – so that it would not have to be so for most of us, again the “pioneer and perfecter of our Faith”!