XXVII SUNDAY OF THE YEAR
Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4; 2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14; Luke 17:5-10
A few years ago, a lady lost her uncle to cancer. Her Christian friend, who had been praying for his recovery, called to condole with her. After offering her sympathies, she said: “But had he converted to Christianity or believed in Jesus, he would not have died. God would have cured him.”
A family was going through difficult times with one tragedy after another; it was overwhelming. The “good Catholics” around them said: “If their faith were stronger, they wouldn’t have these troubles”!
Experiences like these make one question: What is faith? A mantra to recite or a magic wand to wave… and whoosh… problems solved? I wish it were, but it is not!
This Sunday’s readings help us to understand what faith is.
Habakkuk (first reading), writing at a time of turmoil, questions God about his apparent silence at the injustice he and his people face from foreign powers. God persuades him to wait patiently for deliverance for “it will surely come”. The attitude required of his people is “faith”: steadfast loyalty and holding on in obedience to God’s law even when it apparently pays no dividends.
St Paul reminds Timothy (second reading) that God has gifted us “a spirit of… power and love and self-control” and invites him to bear hardships “with the strength that comes from God.”
Jesus instructs his disciples (gospel) that it is the quality of their faith that matters. The size of faith doesn’t matter because God is the one doing the moving! He urges them to do their duty: to serve God unconditionally without counting the cost. He cautions them against supposing that faith establishes a claim for reward.
Faith is a gift of the Spirit that moves us to wait patiently and humbly – while steadfastly doing our tasks – in the knowledge and hope that God’s will and word will be fulfilled.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms: “to obey in faith is to submit freely to the word that has been heard… Abraham is the model of such obedience… the Virgin Mary is its most perfect embodiment” (144). Didn’t they have problems and difficulties? Through all their ordeals, their faith never wavered.
What kind of faith do I have: a mantra to recite, a magic wand to wave or steadfast loyalty to God and fidelity to duty through (and despite) difficulties?
Lord, increase my faith!