AM I PUTTING ENOUGH EFFORT INTO “INCREASING MY FAITH”

“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.

“‘Who among you would say to your servant
who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field,
“Come here immediately and take your place at table”?
Would he not rather say to him,
“Prepare something for me to eat.
Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink.
You may eat and drink when I am finished”?
Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?
So should it be with you.
When you have done all you have been commanded,
say, “We are unprofitable servants;
we have done what we were obliged to do.”’’‘ Luke 17:5,6-10

HOW IS FAITH INCREASED?
Jesus begins his response by implying that the apostles’ request shows that their faith is smaller than a tiny mustard seed. What do you think Jesus is trying to tell them?

Perhaps he means that expecting God to increase their faith automatically with no effort from us is not the way faith increases. My religious community’s foundress left us, Sisters of Mercy, a similar message. She told us to focus on two interrelated activities:  seeking perfection (increasing our faith) and helping alleviate the suffering and need of others so that they can do that, too.

“To devote our lives
to the accomplishment of our own salvation
and to promote the salvation of others,
is the end and object of our Order of Mercy.
These two works are so linked together
by our rule and observances,
that they reciprocally help each other.
We must consider the time and effort
which we employ for the relief of the poor
and the instruction of the uninformed
as most helpful, also,
to our own advancement in perfection.
Likewise, the time given to prayer and all pious exercises,
we must consider as opening us
to the grace, strength and animation
which enable us
to persevere in our obligations
as members of this Order of Mercy.”
Catherine McAuley (1778-1841), Spirit of the Institute

Both Catherine’s words and this Gospel passage indicate that our faith increases when we do our ordinary actions with the recognition that in doing so we are strengthening and spreading union and charity, that they are important for ourselves and for building a sense of kinship with God in our midst. As the master of the property and the servant perform their duties with this disposition of enhancing their communal life, rather than seeking some personal reward, so today we perform our duties, be they stocking supermarket shelves, pumping gas, servicing clients, teaching students, changing diapers, cooking dinner, doing yard work, driving trucks, celebrating Mass, distributing Communion, singing hymns, greeting people. In all of this we are devoting our lives to increasing our faith and to helping others to increase their faith, too.

THE WINNING COMBINATION: GOD – YOU – ME

God could have made us and the world in such a way that, if we needed something, it could be supplied with no help from us.  But God didn’t.  No, instead God seems to have required us to be part of the process.  We need to make choices and do things, not only to make the physicality of everyday life more faith filled. We also need to say and do things to establish peace and eliminate violence.

Perhaps the Lord’s message for this week is that growth comes from inside of us – from the spirit with which we enter into our everyday living – rather than from just asking God to intervene or waiting for God to make a miracle.  God already made the miracle when God made each of us!

Sister Loretta