27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

My dear parishioners,

God is Good!!!  All the time!!!  And all the time!!!  God is Good!!!

This prophet’s oracles progress from distress to confidence. Habakkuk wonders if God has not forgotten the people altogether. In his final oracle, however, the prophet boldly declares that in spite of all evidence to the contrary, he will rejoice in God’s saving power.

The context in today’s Gospel is Jesus teaching his disciples about faithfulness, forgiveness, and humility. The standard Jesus sets is very high and he shows no sign of compromise.

Increase our faith. The response of Jesus’ disciples to the high standards he sets for discipleship is a deep sense of inadequacy. They seem to feel that they are people of faith, but they will need more to fulfill Jesus’ standards. Their request that Jesus increase their faith shows how little they really understand the dynamics of faith. They understand faith as something that can be quantitatively regulated by simply adding or subtracting. They miss the connection between faith and grace.

Faith the size of a mustard seed. The response Jesus gives his disciples probably shocked them. More than likely, they were expecting Jesus to be pleased by this request—indeed more than willing to grant it. Instead, Jesus makes a strong response indicating just how little is the faith of his disciples. He compares their faith to the size of a mustard seed. Tiny as it might be, it is still powerful. It can uproot a mulberry tree and plant it in the sea. The faith of the disciples is even smaller than the size of a mustard seed. But here is Jesus’ point. The tiny amount of faith that the disciples have is still enough to meet the demands of discipleship. The real issue is not that the disciples need more faith. They need to exercise the faith they have, recognizing that it is a gift from God. God’s grace will provide where human effort is inadequate.

Disciples are servants. Jesus tells a parabolic story about the relationship of a servant to his master. The servant is not praised for doing what was expected of him. While he did indeed do a lot, a lot was expected from him. Like the servant, a disciple can do what is expected of him or her, due to God’s grace. However, a disciple can never do more than is expected. A disciple’s own goodness and strength will never be enough to meet the standards Jesus has set. That challenge can be possible only through grace, which comes from faith. Discipleship is not about achieving honor, glory, and prestige. Discipleship is about serving. The ideal model for discipleship is none other than Jesus himself.

Excerpts from “Sunday Homily Helps”, is used by permission of Franciscan Media. www.FranciscanMedia.org. All rights reserved

 Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. Aloysius