If you have faith!

 Twenty-Seventh  Sunday Of Ordinary Time, Year C

Collect

Almighty ever-living God, who in the abundance of your kindness surpass the merits and the desires of those who entreat you, pour out your mercy upon us to pardon what conscience dreads and to give what prayer does not dare to ask. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Reading
Hab 1:2-3; 2:2-4

The just one, because of his faith, shall live.

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Habakkuk

How long, O LORD? I cry for help
   but you do not listen!
I cry out to you, “Violence!”
   but you do not intervene.
Why do you let me see ruin;
   why must I look at misery?
Destruction and violence are before me;
   there is strife, and clamorous discord.
Then the LORD answered me and said:
Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets,
   so that one can read it readily.
For the vision still has its time,
   presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;
if it delays, wait for it,
   it will surely come, it will not be late.
The rash one has no integrity;
   but the just one, because of his faith, shall live.

The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9

R. :

℟. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
   let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
   let us joyfully sing psalms to him.

℟. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Come, let us bow down in worship;
   let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
   and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.

℟. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
   “Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
   as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
   they tested me though they had seen my works.”

℟. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Second Reading
2 Tm 1:6-8, 13-14

Do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord.

A reading from the second Letter of Saint Paul to Timothy

Beloved:
I remind you, to stir into flame
   the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.
For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice
   but rather of power and love and self-control.
So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord,
   nor of me, a prisoner for his sake;
   but bear your share of hardship for the gospel
   with the strength that comes from God.

Take as your norm the sound words that you heard from me,
   in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
Guard this rich trust with the help of the Holy Spirit
   that dwells within us.

The word of the Lord.

Acclamation before the Gospel
1 Pt 1:25

℟. Alleluia, alleluia.

The word of the Lord remains for ever.
This is the word that has been proclaimed to you.

℟. Alleluia, alleluia.


Gospel
Lk 17:5-10

If you have faith!

✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke

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.’”

At the end of the Gospel, the Deacon, or the Priest, acclaims:

The Gospel of the Lord.

All reply:

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Reflection 

”We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty” (v. 10).  Can we make this statement without faith? 

Faith is the disciples’ response to the love of the Teacher.  It is not without reason that the more time the disciples spent with Jesus, the more they realised that they could not be authentic disciples without faith.  The apostles began to recognise their frailty before the Lord Jesus: we want to do what you are asking of us, but it seems very difficult for us, “Increase our faith!”  The apostles asked this of Jesus after he had told them “Even if he wrongs you seven times a day, and comes back to you seven times to say, ‘I am sorry,’ you must forgive him” (Lk 17, 4).  Isn’t this also difficult for us?  Are we saints? 

“If you had faith…” (v.6).  Jesus asks faith from those who wish to follow Him seriously, even if that faith is as small “as a grain of mustard seed,” it has the power to accomplish great things that seem impossible, even uprooting a sycamine tree from its roots and be planted in the sea.  We can truly liken faith to seed that has been sown because it has the potential to grow and bear fruit.  It is good to remember that faith is a gift which is given to us.  But we must open this gift, care for it and nurture it.   
The seed of faith that was placed within us on the day of our Baptism must be watered with living water, so that it can enable us to do great things, just as Jesus told us.  Are we striving to build a relationship of love and trust with the Lord through prayer, listening to God’s Word and spending some quiet time with Him?

Christian life is a journey of faith that becomes transformed into a life of service.  To serve means to love, just as Christ came into this world as a humble servant who calls His disciples to imitate Him.  Jesus tells us “When you have done all that is commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty’” (v.10).  Jesus is not saying that the service we offer is of no use, but rather that he desires to distribute and increase the service we give.  In the light of Christ, we recognise that we are the Lord’s humble servants, and do not expect any recompense because in serving, we are simply obeying His commandment of love towards God and our neighbour.  What is preventing us from loving without expecting anything in return? 

Prayer 

O Lord, I am your servant.   

 I am your servant, the child of your handmaid;  
    you have loosed my bonds. 

I will offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving 
    and call on the name of the Lord. 

Psalm 116:16-17 

 

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