Dear Friend,
We know from experience that when we
have faith in someone we are ready to trust that person. To be believers
is to trust in God! But often we put terms and conditions to our faith.
Our faith is weak and conditional. In this Year of faith we are asked
to exercise our faith and trust in God more and more. Even the little
faith we have can work miracles if we let God take over! Have a
faith-filled trusting weekend! Fr. Jude
Sunday Ref. 27th Sun. of the Year: "We do not need more faith. But have faith like a mustard
seed and act on it!" 6-Oct-2013
The Prophet
Habakkuk, a contemporary of Jeremiah wants to know why God the all-pure,
the all-holy allows Israel to suffer at the hands of the unholy pagans.
Why is it that sinners prosper while the just are made to suffer? - A
question that is relevant today as well! God's answer: that no power can
overcome the faithful person, is valid today as well. Habakkuk had the
great event of the Exodus to remind him and the Israelites that God is
the 'Rock', he saves his people.
All we have to do is trust and be faithful to Him even when he appears
to be silent.
Mountain moving faith
An
old woman regularly read the Bible before retiring at night. One day
she came across the passage that said: "If you have faith as little as a
mustard seed and ask the mountain to go away, it will go." She decided
to test the efficacy of the passage. There was a hillock behind her
house. She commanded the hillock to go away from there and went to bed.
In the morning she got up as usual and remembered her command to the
hillock. She wore her spectacles and peered through the window. The
hillock was there. Then she muttered to herself, "Ah! That's what I
thought." - What she thought was that the mountain would not move.
While her outer mind gave the command, her inner mind was convinced that
she was giving a futile
order. She did not have even an atom of faith!
G. Francis Xavier in 'The World's best inspiring stories'
In today's
gospel Jesus has two lessons to give us about living our lives in
troubled times. Firstly he tells his disciples and us to grow and
increase our faith in Him. The second message that Jesus gives us is
that we should live our lives in humble service believing and trusting
that God is at work and needs us to do our part in fulfilling His plan
in the world today. To drive the message of faith he says: "If you had
faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree,
'Be uprooted and planted in the sea and it would obey you!" What is the
point Jesus is making? We know that a mulberry tree is known for its
deep roots. And it is very difficult to uproot it. Besides how can you
plant a tree in the sea? Evidently Jesus is telling us that what is
impossible for us is not impossible for God. If we hold on in faith and
let God take over our lives, the impossible will become possible for us.
Just as the power of the seed does not depend on its size but on the
hidden life within it, so the power of faith depends not on its quantity
but on its quality. With faith we may not be able to literally move
mountains, but we will have power to overcome obstacles, to do great
things for the Lord in this world. The gospel concludes with a reminder
that when all is said and done, God does not depend on our works but on
our faith in Him. So when we are frustrated that things do not change in
spite of our efforts, we must hold on and hand it over to God. God is
at work, No matter how bleak the picture, God's power can and will, make
it right.
I believe…
At
the end of World War II, it is reported, the Allied soldiers were
searching farm houses for snipers. In one abandoned house, which was
almost a heap of rubble, they had to use their flashlights to get to the
basement. On the crumbling wall, they spotted a Star of David. It had
obviously been scratched by a victim of the Jewish Holocaust. And
beneath it was the following message in clear but rough lettering: "I
believe in the sun -even when it does not shine. I believe in love -
even when it is not shown. I believe in God - even when he does not
speak." -Like the Holocaust victim who had inscribed those uplifting
words on the basement wall, Mother Teresa 'believed in the sun-even when
it did not shine. She believed in love -even when it was not shown. And
she believed in God -even when God did not speak. In her secret and
personal letters Mother Teresa revealed that for almost 50 years, she
went through what is best described as 'the dark night of the soul',
driving her to doubt the existence of heaven and even God. Said a Jesuit
priest, Fr. James Martin, "I have never read a saint's life where the
saint has had such an intense spiritual darkness. No one knew she was
that tormented." Like all of us, Mother Teresa was but human. And it is
only natural that we, like her, will experience times of doubt,
loneliness, dryness and even denial. Blessed are those who have not seen
and yet believe!
James Valladares in 'Your Words O Lord, are Spirit, and They are Life'
Be careful in whom you place your trust!
Before modern radio and television became so
sophisticated, a
telephone operator used to get a call every afternoon asking for the
correct time. She was always able to give this information with great
confidence. The reason for this was that she always checked her watch,
and adjusted it when needed, when the whistle blew for the closing time
in the local factory. One day her watch stopped. The telephone rang
inquiring for the correct time. She explained her predicament. Her watch
had stopped, and she had no way of ascertaining the correct time until
the factory whistle sounded some time later. The caller then explained
his predicament. He was calling today, as he had done every other day,
from the same local factory, and he had always adjusted his clock, when
necessary, to agree with whatever time it was in the telephone exchange.
-Be careful in whom you place your trust!
Jack McArdle in 'And that's the Gospel
truth'
Mustard-seed Faith
You
have heard of Dorothy Day, a woman many considered a living saint. Many
admirers came to visit her, to have a look at her, to cherish her, to
speak to her, to touch her, if possible. Sometimes they would tell her,
"You are a saint," or she would overhear others saying of her, "She is a
saint." She would get upset, turn to the speaker, and say, "Don't say
that. Don't make it too easy for yourself. Don't escape this way. I know
why you are saying, 'she is a saint.' You say that to convince yourself
that you are different from me, that I am different from you. I am not a
saint. I am like you. You could do what I do. You don't need any more
than you have; get kicking, please." -A mustard seed is very tiny;
there is a chance of losing it if it is not handled carefully. Likewise,
faith; if it is
not handled carefully there is a chance of losing it. We have to feed
faith. Do not despise small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the
work begin. (Zachariah 4:10)
Let us look at the Bible. Against a towering giant, a brook pebble
seems futile. But God used it to topple Goliath. Compared to the tithes
of the wealthy, a widow's coins seem puny. But Jesus used them to
inspire us. Moses had a staff. David had a sling. Samson had a jawbone.
Rahab had a string. Mary had some ointment. Dorcas had a needle. All
were used by God.
John Pichappilly in 'The Table of the Word'
Pavarotti: My Own Story
Not since the legendary Caruso has another opera
personality had such charisma as tenor Luciano Pavarotti. In his
autobiography, Pavarotti: My Own Story,
he describes how he was trained by a great master, Arrigo Pola.
"Everything Pola asked me to do, I did, -day after day, blindly. For six
months we did nothing but vocalize and work on vowels." Pavarotti
worked hard under Pola for two and a half years and then worked just as
hard under Maestro Ettore Campogalliani for another five years. Finally
after putting so much faith and trust in his mentors, Pavarotti made a
breakthrough at a concert in Salsomaggiore where he thrilled the
audience and was catapulted into fame. This story about faith and trust
leads us into today's readings which focus on the same themes. As
Luciano Pavarotti put his trust in his master teacher, we too must put
our trust in our mentor Jesus Christ.
Albert Cylwicki in 'His Word Resounds'
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