RSS Feed"The apostles said to the Lord, 'Increase our faith.' The Lord replied, 'If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, "Be uprooted and planted in the sea," and it would obey you.'" (Lk 17: 5-6)
Often we encounter so many different forms of violence, suffering, corruption, devastation, injustice, and hatred in our world. In fact, if we keep up with the news we are presented with all of these horrors on a daily basis. All of these events can shake our faith in God. How many times have we turned to Him and cried out, "what is going on?! Why don't you do something?!" Or maybe we've never put our sentiments and pain into words. The prophet, Habakkuk, who we hear cry out to God in this Sunday's first reading, did put those questions to God in no uncertain terms. His words can summarize the cry of our hearts at times: "How long, O LORD? I cry for help but you do not listen! I cry out to you, 'Violence!' but you do not intervene." God's patience and trust in us can sometimes be scandalizing to our faith. Our own indifference and inaction can also be scandalous to others and shake their faith - remember last week's parable of the rich man and Lazarus and how the rich man was condemned precisely for his indifference and inaction. As a side note, since I won't return to the topic here, there is a powerful quote which runs: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Something definitely worthy of deeper reflection.How do the readings for this Sunday teach us to respond to the scandals in our world, and Jesus' Church at times, which cause our faith to be shaken, and not just stirred? First, let us listen to the response God gives to the prophet Habakkuk in the first reading: "For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint; if it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late. The rash one has no integrity; but the just one, because of his faith, shall live." In other words, God has a plan. While God's ways are not our ways, and His plan is definitely mysterious to us, God calls us to have faith in His plan and His timing. St. Peter tells us to "consider the patience of the Lord as salvation." (2 Pet 3:15) God's patience is aimed at giving us time to repent and be converted, and is a testament to the true power of goodness which can transform us just as yeast transforms the dough.
The responsorial psalm exhorts us to listen to God's response to Habakkuk. In the psalm we are warned about giving up hope in goodness and God's ways, as this can lead us to harden our hearts against God Himself: "If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts." God has spoken to us, He has revealed His plan to us in Jesus Christ, we have seen His wonders in salvation history, we understand that His ways are not our ways, and we have heard Him tell us not to surrender faith, no matter what happens: "And then many will be led into sin; they will betray and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and deceive many; and because of the increase of evildoing, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved." (Mt 24:10-13) Evil has the power to make our love for God and neighbor grow cold, but faith in the power of God's goodness and plan - although it can seem foolish at times - keeps our love alive. Even though I referred to J.R. Tolkien's, Lord of the Rings, a few weeks back, it is serves as good example here too. No one expected Frodo to succeed in his quest to destroy the Ring of Power - he was so small, so insignificant, and far from being a warrior - and yet the weakness and smallness of goodness which he represents proved stronger than the arrogance and power of evil. A quote from St. Paul also jumps into mind: "The weakness of God is stronger than human strength." (1 Cor 1:25)
So in the readings for today we are told to maintain our faith in God's word, in His plan, to not be scandalized at His patience, and to continue doing His will. But even though we might know how to respond when we are scandalized by evil, we can nevertheless feel our faith is too weak. In these moments we can cry out to the Lord like the Apostles did in this Sunday's Gospel: "Increase our faith!" As Jesus pointed out in response to their plea, faith, even if it is as small as a mustard seed, is powerful indeed. Faith resides in the realm of God's strength, that is it's base, not human strength, and therefore we only need a little to do great things. With the parable of the "unprofitable servant" we see that our faith is meant to strengthen us in being faithful to God, to what He has asked of us, and is not to be conceived as power over God which subjects His Will to ours. I think all of us have been upset at God at one point or another because we prayed with faith and God didn't carry out our command – even though we might not have realized this was our underlying mentality at the time. We are not to use faith as a weapon of impatience against God and His way of doing things. Rather, we are to find in faith the strength necessary to believe in the power of goodness and love which surround us, and to persevere in God's ways as "unprofitable servants".
Finally, we can see in the second reading a key to increasing our faith: "take as your norm the sound words that you heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus." We must listen and ponder frequently the Word of God - the Bible - and allow that Word to grow deep within us through silent prayer and meditation. Our faith is ultimately founded on the living Word of God, a Person - Jesus Christ. Reading the Bible and speaking sincerely with the Lord can strengthen our faith. If we expect our faith in God to grow and develop then we need to make time for Him in our daily life - time to speak with Him freely about our doubts, concerns, anxieties, and trials - asking all the while that He place His strength and love within our hearts. This is a beautiful way of praying in faith, and all of us have access to God and can stop to speak with Him honestly – which, by the way, would be a good way of putting this week's liturgy into practice. God bless you.
(Photo of the personification of "Faith" courtesy of Br. Lawrence Lew, O.P.)
