Word to the Wise
Monday, November 10, 2008 - St. Leo the Great - pope and doctor of the Church
[Titus 1:1-9 and Luke 17:1-6]And 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.
It is human nature to be intimidated by a difficult task with an unknown outcome! The Apostles in the Gospel of Luke are being instructed by Jesus in the qualities required for discipleship and mission. They are feeling inadequate to the mission. Their feeling is expressed in their request, "Increase our faith!" Jesus' reply is picturesque and it is not about quantity, although the size of the seed serves the purpose for his message. Faith as meant in this context has nothing to do with assent to propositions. It means a complete confidence in the power of God. With that power working through one, even the weakest or smallest person can overcome any obstacle! By the time the Gospel of Luke was put into writing, the church was already experiencing persecution. Discouragement and fear are real morale busters! Like those early disciples, we can be fearful and discouraged in the face of the competition and disdain of a secular culture. We can find ourselves doing anything possible to make the faith less noticeable so as to avoid negative reaction. History shows, however, that the finest hours of Christianity have been those when our faith was a powerful counter-cultural force. A faith that makes demands will ultimately be more attractive than a "consumer" Catholicism that is used for an hour on Sunday and then thrown away like the fast food wrappers from the lunch that follows! AMEN
config
view
logs
3840.0 KB
64 ms
4
