Word to the Wise
Monday, November 11, 2024 - Monday in the 32th Week in Ordinary Time
[Titus 1:1-9 and Luke 17:1-6]"If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, 'I am sorry,' you should forgive him." 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." [Luke]
NOVEMBER 11 ST. MARTIN OF TOURS
The evangelist Luke, like the other evangelists, took various "sayings" of Jesus that were given to him [Luke] and placed them in whatever sequence seemed to serve his purpose in telling the story of Jesus. Sometimes the placement seems random and sometimes intentional. The reader is left to discern the truth with the help of the Holy Spirit and the traditions of the church. The seven times forgiveness appears prominently in the Gospel According to Matthew also. The image of faith the size of a tiny seed appears as well in all three of the synoptic gospels. In today's gospel, the juxtaposition of forgiveness and faith is an opportunity to reflect on their important relationship.
Faith and mercy go together continually in the gospel. It is a matter of understanding that "faith" is not an abstraction, nor is mercy. In a way, they are not "nouns" but "verbs" as far as Jesus is concerned. If we believe in him, we must act as he did. In the Gospel According to Luke, the crucifixion scene depicts Jesus forgiving those who are crucifying him as well as "the good thief." [Luke 23:34 and 43].
At our baptism, we received the gift of faith, which our parents, godparents and the Christian community helped to shape initially. But it is a gift that must be continually opened. Mercy is part of the gift of faith. It is not up to the Lord to "increase" our faith. It is up to us to continue to open the gift and be worthy of it. If we are afraid to open it because we might be required to forgive as Jesus did, we are depriving ourselves of God's gift of faith and of God's mercy!! AMEN