Readings: Habakkuk 1:12-2:4; Ps. 9; Matt 17: 14-20
Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.
WHY WE HAVE FAILED TO EXPRESS THE FAITH PROPERLY AND OBTAIN POSITIVE RESULTS
Oftentimes, we think and wish that we have enough faith to face whatever challenges come our way. However, the fact remains that we can only truly understand the level and capacity of our faith when we are faced with a situation that overwhelms our physical and mental abilities. Then we will realise that what we think we have as faith is nothing but a shadow of reality. Such was the situation with the disciples of Jesus in our Gospel passage today.
A man came up to Jesus begging him to deliver his son, whom he had brought to the disciples, but they were unable to cure him. But Jesus said to them ‘Faithless and perverse generation!’ ‘How much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I endure you? Bring him here to me.’ And he rebuked the devil, who immediately came out of the boy and he was cured from that moment.
Then the disciples came privately to Jesus. ‘Why were we unable to cast it out? They asked. He answered, ‘Because you have little faith. I tell you solemnly, if your faith were the size of a mustard seed you could say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it would move; nothing would be impossible for you.
Here, Jesus gives two reasons why the disciples failed to cure the boy. The first is connected with their own moral condition and disposition, as they were only depending on their own personal abilities. Secondly, and more importantly, is their lack of faith. Though they had, indeed, shown some faith by making even the attempt at the expulsion of the devil.
But they had acted half-heartedly and had not displayed that perfect confidence and trust which alone can bring success and make all things possible. Thus, Jesus decided to use the analogy of a mustard seed to give them a lecture about having a perfect and complete faith that moves mountains.
The mustard seed, as we know, is the smallest of all seeds, which grows to produce the largest of all shrubs. So with the analogy of the mustard seed in relation to faith, Jesus supposed that, if we have the smallest faith that is genuine, we can do all things. Just like the mustard seed produced the largest of all herbs.
Therefore, if we begin to nurture our faith to grow and strengthen from a small, humble beginning, it will grow to the point that it can help us to perform and achieve greater things and conquer the most difficult situations that, at first, would appear impossible.
So faith moving mountains implies the spiritual and divine ability to make difficult and stumbling situations vanish. And this is obtained when we are rooted in God through sincere love. This is what we see in St. Dominic whose memorial we celebrate today. Through his personal experience of God, he has helped the faithful to renew their faith and commitment in God and their society through the deepening of their spiritual lives, especially through the use of the rosary as a prayer, which eventually became one of the most popular of all devotions in the Church, through which countless souls have been converted to the Lord, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Dear friends, if we want to grow in faith, we must cultivate the humble habit of a mustard seed, which, though small, has the potential of becoming great when exposed to a fertile environment. For us to have the faith that moves mountains, we must be well-disposed to embrace the power of God in our lives; we must desire to have a personal experience of the power of God at work in the world and acknowledge that in him comes our victory over every situation we encounter.
LET US PRAY: Lord God, faith is your supernatural gift to humanity, grant that we may embrace this gift even as little as that of a mustard seed, to move out of our lives the tough mountains that are crushing us in our daily lives. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a joyful weekend.
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