October 2
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
“If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”
Reflection
I’m always intrigued by Jesus’ parable about mustard-seed-size faith and the ability to move trees or do some other mighty deed. The initial reaction I have is usually something along the lines of, “Well, I can’t work miracles, so my faith must not even be the size of a mustard seed!” And actually, this can feel a bit discouraging…regularly showing up in prayer, striving to be faithful in our lives as disciples, and never seeing the miracle we’re hoping for. However, I don’t think that Jesus is trying to make a point of how insignificant or small our faith is. Rather, it seems more likely that Jesus is trying to offer us consolation, rather than a rebuke.
One scholar observes, Jesus is encouraging his disciples with a reality that is true for all of us: Contrary to what you’d might expect, you don’t need much faith to be effective, just give Jesus a little bit of faith, a little bit of trust, and great things can come.
Jesus was able to feed five thousand with just a few loaves and fish! Jesus can take whatever small faith we have and transform us and work mighty things in us, through us, and for us. This message is meant to give us confidence, not leave us embarrassed or sheepish at what our faith looks like. Jesus doesn’t want us to fear stepping out with whatever faith we have. At the end of the day, faith—a theological virtue—is pure gift, and Jesus wants us to have hearts open that he may instill in us greater and greater faith and confidence in him. We simply must start by opening the door of our heart to him.
How do we put our mustard-seed-size faith into action? Start one step at a time, one day at a time, and set reasonable goals. Jesus can work miracles with whatever space you give him, and that’s the point of the parable. Or consider it another way and entertain the idea: if failure wasn’t possible, what would you attempt for the Lord? Reflect on this thought and really give it some time. Living this out, living out service, commitment, and love of the Lord without fear of any kind of failure is, in a sense, enacting Jesus’ parable of mustard-seed-size faith. Jesus wants us to have that kind of confidence in him. Jesus desires to bless, multiply, and transform whatever we seek to live out in his name.
Peace,
Fr. Foley
Would you like to receive these reflections in your inbox? Subscribe to The Sunday Read newsletter.