One thing that you may not know about me is I am a bit of a movie buff. I love to watch a good movie, and I like a wide variety of genres. I’ll watch a tearjerker, a good drama, nonstop action, or a comedy, but I’m not a big fan of horror movies. My favorite type of movie, regardless of the genre, is the hero journey. This literary archetype can be found in so many movies, and some of my favorites. The hero journey can be found in almost every super hero movie, so Marvel and D.C., but also in great epic tales like Star Wars, the Chronicles of Narnia, and The Lord of the Rings. J.R.R. Tolkien was a master of this literary style, and as a faithful Catholic, he incorporated many themes and symbols of the faith into his writing, including the hero’s journey, which is found throughout the Bible.

These hero journeys always begin with a character who is, in the familiar, in a kind of cozy and comfortable existence. Think of Bilbo Baggins, comfortable and safe in his Hobbit hole. He knows what he likes, he eats three square meals a day, and he says adventures are disturbing, uncomfortable things, that will make you late for dinner. He is very happy with the way things are. But then, the hero is called. In Bilbo’s case he is called by a group of dwarves who barge into his house. Then Gandolf the wizard comes, and they invite him into this great adventure. The hero is called out of his comfortable and well-ordered life and is compelled to travel to an unknown land where he will encounter all kinds of dangers, but in making the journey he makes possible something that would never have happened otherwise. He conquers something, he conquers some perilous evil, and he conquers something within himself.

This is the archetype of the hero’s journey, and once we recognize it, we start to see it all over the Bible. But in the Bible, the motivation to act, the call to begin the journey does not come from within the hero himself or from his friends, the calling comes from God Himself. Think of all the stories when God does exactly that, He calls people out of their comfortable existence and moves them into more dangerous territory, calls them to go on an adventure, where they will encounter hardship and conflict, but through their brave effort they make possible a new way of life for others.

Now, with this theme of the hero’s journey in mind, I want to turn our attention to the second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews. We are not sure who wrote this book, for years it was believed Saint Paul wrote it, but now scholars are almost certain that he didn’t. But whoever did write this letter to the Hebrews was very familiar with Jewish life, especially the rituals of the Temple. We find some of the richest theological reflection in this letter to the Hebrews. In chapter 11 we read today, the author is talking about faith. This is a very contested idea in modern society and culture. Many opponents of religion will argue that faith is a blind acceptance, that reason has no foothold when it comes to faith, and people who are religious will accept any nonsense. Maybe for some people that’s true, but for us Catholics, we know, as Saint Thomas Aquinas expressed, that grace builds on nature, including our God-given nature of intellect and reason. I would love to hear an atheist try to argue that Saint Thomas Aquinas was unreasonable or ill-informed. In truth, blind acceptance has nothing to do with what the Bible means by faith. The Greek word for faith, is “pistis”, and this touches at the heart of the matter. Pistis means trust or confidence. Trusting in God even when I can’t see where he is leading me, trusting in God when His plan for me is unknown, difficult, or even painful. But following him willingly in an attitude of faith. It’s an invitation to a hero’s journey. It’s an invitation to go on an adventure.

Listen now to Hebrews Chapter 11. “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was to go.” That is what faith is, not accepting something without evidence, but a willingness to leave your home to leave your comfort zone, and go, called by God toward a higher good He desires for you, a higher good that you could not reach on your own.

Listen again, “By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs of the same promise;” Isn’t that interesting? The same promise. The people we journey with must also be following that promise in faith. “For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and maker is God.” Trust, confidence, a willingness to go on an adventure. That’s at the heart of the matter for people of faith. It’s one thing to say, “I believe in God” but its another thing entirely to say “I trust in God.” I’m not concerned if you believe in the existence of God. That’s just some abstract intellectual proposition. I want to know if you have faith? Do you trust God enough to follow where he leads? Here this last section from our reading. “By faith he, “Abraham” received power to generate, even though he was past the normal age—and Sarah herself was sterile— for he thought that the one who had made the promise was trustworthy.” What did Abraham receive because he was willing to trust in God’s promise? “So it was that there came forth from one man, himself as good as dead, descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky.

There it is, there’s the paradigm, because he was willing to trust, to go on an adventure, he opened up something for everybody else. He made possible the emergence of a holy people, a people set apart. All of us, we are children of Abraham because we are born of his faith. It’s because he was willing to trust and go on that journey that you and I are here today, thousands of years later. And this is repeated all through scripture. Think of Moses being called in the burning bush, he didn’t want to be the voice of an entire people. “Who am I that I should go to pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” But what did God say? “I will be with you, and teach you what to say.” Trust. Think of the call of Peter. “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” The God who awakens faith, is the God who awakens heroes. And we need more heroes in the Church.

Finally, I want to end with a little theoretical theology. Yes, God calls us to spiritual heroism, and this is evident throughout scripture, but the Bible is also the story of God himself going on a kind of hero’s journey. God is perfect, he is absolute, and satisfied in every way, and yet out of love he went on an adventure of creation. Then, when his creation falls into sin, He makes the great adventure of rescuing His creation. Of sending His Son. Remember the letter to the Philippians. Though He was in the form of God, Jesus did not deem equality with God something to be grasped.

The son of God didn’t remain in the kind of cozy and comfortable realm of His divine life, but rather he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of men. He was known to be of human estate and humbled himself obediently accepting even death, death on a cross. The son of God went on a hero’s journey. He entered into our perilous realm of sin, in order to save us from it. God did not cling to godliness, but went on an adventure, to bring us life. Our faith, our trust in God is in imitation of his willingness to go on a hero’s journey for us. Do we have the trust, do we have the confidence to go on a journey of faith and be the heroes this world so desperately needs?

Fr. Ben Riley