27TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME C

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WHY MUSTARD SEED?

LK 17: 5-10



 “Just remember the mustard seed…,” this was my curt reply to the insistent question of a friend. This woman was asking me what I thought was best for her to do to encourage people to join her new prayer group. She was bubbling with excitement but was short on logistics as to how to increase her membership.

 

In the gospel today, the apostles were also insistently asking the Lord Jesus to “increase their faith.” Most surely, this was a request the Lord found appealing, excellent, noble. What can go wrong with an abundant and overflowing faith? The apostles were sincere, not showing-off, and they wanted to follow God’s will. Surprisingly however, the Lord Jesus knew he wanted to give them something more profound through a lesson least expected.

 

For Jesus, people do not primarily need an “increase” of faith; they need an increase of humility. To increase one’s faith may mean for some to acquire the knowledge of the mysteries of revelation. For some it may mean to muster the courage to embrace the challenge of martyrdom. For others, perhaps it may lead to missionary and pastoral zeal.

 

For Jesus, faith does not need an enlargement, an erudition, a boldness. The proof of genuine faith is that it does not seek to increase but that it seeks to decrease; it seeks not to possess but to lose; it seeks not noisy achievements but silent witnessing. The focus should not be on oneself but on the Crucified and Risen Lord. Humility is the key.

 

The mustard seed is a symbol of the humility Jesus wants every faithful follower to have. A humble faith increases not in the eyes of the world, not in the esteem of men, but in the presence of the Lord who alone looks at the heart. My friend later thanked me for the suggestion. She realized that to spread the word about her prayer group, she must start by being humble and simple before the Lord and in the community of her parish. It will be her good example and her selfless service that will draw people to Jesus through her.

 

How will you share God’s Word to others? How will you convert a person to Christ? How will you accomplish your mission in this world? The saints have discovered an interesting but often overlooked detail in the message of the Lord Jesus. It is the mustard seed. Let us be small seeds planted in the fertile soil of faith.

 

 

PLS JOIN the following FB groups by liking, following or joining:

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2452784104863469  (to get daily inspiration from the great saint and spiritual director - St. Francis de Sales)

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/katesismoko.mahalko  (to grow deeper in knowledge of our Catholic faith through little doses of the Catechism)

THANK YOU!

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