27th Sun C by Pagola / Vally D'souza sj

TWENTY SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY  TIME ©

6 October 2013

Luke 17, 5-10

  

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

José Antonio Pagola 

Are we believers?

 Jesus repeated these words to them on various occasions: “How little faith you have!” The disciples do not deny it. They know he’s right. They’ve been with him quite some time. They see him totally devoted to the Project of God; he lives only to do good; all he lives for is to make the lives of all more dignified and more humane. Will they be able to follow him to the end?

   According to Luke, the disciples once said to Jesus: “Increase our faith” They feel their faith is little and weak. They need to trust more in God and believe more in Jesus. They don’t quite grasp what he’s driving at, but they don’t dispute what he says. They do what’s most important: they ask him to  help them make their faith grow. 

   The religious crisis of our times affects even practicing Christians. We talk of believers and unbelievers as if they were two well defined  groups: one has faith, the other doesn’t. In fact it isn’t so. Almost always in the human heart there is at the same time a believer and an unbeliever. Hence, even those of us who call ourselves “Christians” must ask ourselves: Are we truly believers? Who is God for us? Do we love him? Does he in fact direct our lives?

   Faith can grow weak in us without our ever having had any doubts. If we do not nurture it, it can slowly  keep growing weak in our hearts till it is quite simply reduced to a habit we do not dare to give up just in case…Distracted by a thousand things, we no longer get to communicating with God. We practically live without him.

   What can we do? In fact, we don’t need to do much. It’s useless to make extraordinary resolutions, for surely we aren’t going to keep them. The first thing to do is to pray like that unknown person who one day came to Jesus and said: “I believe, Lord, help my unbelief.” It is good to repeat them in the simplicity of our hearts. God understands us. He will awaken faith in us. 

   We must not speak to God as if he were outside us. He is within. It’s best to close our eyes and  keep silence to feel and welcome his Presence. Neither should we spend time in  thinking of him, as though he were only present in our heads. He is present in the depths of our being. We must seek him in our hearts.

   What’s important is to keep at it until we have a first experience, even if it’s poor, even if lasts just a few moments. If one day we see that we are not alone in life, if we grasp that we are loved by God without having merited it, everything will change. It doesn’t matter if we have lived having altogether forgotten him. To believe in God, is, above all, to trust in his love for us.