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27th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Yr. C
Increase Our Faith!
Human experience teaches us that when we are in real distress, we find out who are real friends. Real friends stay with us even at the cost of sacrifice. They have time for us; they have the patience to listen; they are the people we can trust and have confidence in. Unfortunately, there are not many friends who can stand the test.
On the contrary, Christians who maintain a living relationship with God are fortunate. They know by experience that God never disappoints those who have faith in Him. “Faith is not believing that God can, it is knowing that He will.” Faith is the gift from God that gives us the eyes to see things as they really are, and to live out and profess our faith in God with confidence. Faith is meant to be active and strong even to the point of moving mountains. Such faith must grow with us as we mature. The Christian life is a life of love, but also a life of spiritual warfare. Like love, faith knows its doubts. There are dark periods but never despair. Since children are baptized by the faith of their parents, fathers and mothers must help them grow in the faith.
When things do not go our way, we keep our faith in God alive with the help of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, says St. Paul in the Epistle. This is how we guard our deposit of faith. Loneliness must be overcome by friendship and confidence in “the other.” If this “other” can be God as well, that person is happy. Faith cures diseases, brings fortune, mends relationships, builds up people themselves. Faith should not be conditional. Faith like the mustard seed means seeing the life hidden within that tiny seed. We only need to do our part; the rest is in the hand of God. How is our faith in Jesus Christ at the source of the decisions we make?
Our moral life has its source in faith in God who reveals His love to us, [CCC 2087]. Living the truly good life by keeping the commandments and following the Lord Jesus always means putting our faith into practice, [CCC162]. When we make our plans, we entrust ourselves into God’s hand and say: “We are unworthy servants, we have only done what was our duty.” God has better plans for our lives, and we hope for His graciousness. We do our bit and God does His might. He picks up where we have left off. Let our prayer always be: “Come, let us bow down in worship…. For He is our God, and we are the people He shepherds, the flock He guides.” [Responsorial Psalm]. Like the apostles, all Christians must pray often that God may, “increase our faith,” for without faith it is impossible to please God. “We are justified by our faith…but not by faith alone. Faith without good works is dead.” [Jas.2:26]. “The righteous shall live by faith,” [Hab.2:4].