27TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YR C
Hab 1:2-3,2:2-4; Ps 94
2Tim 1:6-8,13-14; Lk 17:5-10
LORD INCREASE OUR FAITH
Faith is one of the three theological gifts we receive at baptism. It is also a choice. The profound opening sentence of our gospel has the Apostles asking Jesus, “increase our faith”.
All of us can identify with this plea of the apostles because, each one of us at a point in our lives seem to cry out to the Lord for help. The challenges of our lives seem to eat up our faith to the extend that we seem powerless, but like the apostles in today’s gospel, the good news is that, we have Jesus. We can call upon him always.
The request of the apostles reveal that faith can appreciate. It can grow. In fact, earlier in the gospel, in commenting on the faith of the centurion, Jesus noted that he has not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. (Lk 7:9). It means that sometimes in our lives we need different levels of faith depending on the challenges we face. For the apostles it was the teaching about forgiveness that made them ask for increase in faith. It would mean that the obligation to forgive as taught by Jesus seems difficult for them, so they asked the Lord for help. We too can learn from this.
In moments of difficulties in our obligations as Christians, we need to ask the Lord to increase our faith. Sometimes our obligations at work may conflict with our Christian believes and we do not know what to do. Let’s learn from the Apostles and ask Jesus to “increase our faith.
The request reveals also that faith is aided by God and it’s not a matter of human strength or wisdom. God aids us in our faith in order to know him personally.
The answer of Jesus is equally interesting. He says if you have faith as small as the size of a mustard seed you could tell this mulberry tree ‘be uprooted and planted in the sea and it will obey you” (Lk 17:6). It means that faith enables God to do the impossible in our lives. Faith works wonders.
Looking at the response of Jesus closely we see too that, it doesn’t matter the amount of faith but the quality of the faith. This quality of faith is linked with the short parable Jesus tells us. By this parable Jesus links obedience to faith. We cannot exercise our faith detached from obedience to his word and commands.
Jesus subtly touches on what I call “the arrogance of faith”. That is when the disciple begins to arrogate to himself the praise for the wonder that is done through faith. The antidote to this kind of behaviour is seen in the last statement of the gospel today, “we are worthless servants, we have done only what we ought to have done”
May the Lord increase the quality of our faith and keep us humble.
God bless and strengthen us.
By Fr. Delight Arnold Carbonu
