IF YOU HAVE FAITH THE SIZE OF MUSTARD SEED...

Mt 17:14-20

To define what faith is all about is not an easy task. Of course, faith involves knowledge about God. It also involves doing God’s will and a commitment to do what is good and right. But Jesus adds another element of faith based on today’s gospel and that is, trust in God.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus cures a boy suffering from demon possession. It is said that the disciples were unable to drive the demons from this boy. Jesus takes this opportunity to emphasize the need for strong faith and trust as the apostles and all believers undertake the very important responsibility which the Lord has given them.

Jesus says to them: “It was because of your little faith. If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will move mountains. Why does it happen this way to the disciples? The reason could be that the disciples thought of being able to heal by themselves. They have cut the connection of the healing power with God. In other words, they thought that they are the ones doing the healing rather than God doing it. They have fallen into the trap of “it’s me!” doing it or the pride rather than trusting in the Lord. They fail to recognize the source of power to heal, Jesus Christ Himself.

This is why Jesus tells them you don’t have enough faith which includes conscious reliance on God’s power when acting in my name or you don’t have trust which connects you to God in your ministry.

Oftentimes, we find ourselves in the disciples' scenario: over-confident in ourselves, forgetting God, forgetting that our abilities have been gifts from the Lord. Having become wealthy and successful in our careers, we begin to think that we are capable of anything; we begin to think that our success was driven solely by our own abilities and they were not from God.

The Gospel today reminds us that all that we have is from God; it is through genuine faith in Him that we are able to overcome whatever challenges come on our way. For us, let us not be glad that we have some special power, some special qualities and abilities because all these come from God. But rather let us be glad that God loves us and chooses us to show His love for our brothers and sisters through us. If our faith is to be strong and effective, we must recognize the source of our power. How strong is my faith and trust, how strong is your faith and trust in God’s care? Let us pray through the intercession of Saint Clare that we may be men and women of faith and trust in whatever we do.