Quality v Quantity
The disciple’s asked Jesus
to increase their faith. They had faith, but, only if they had more faith. And Jesus
said to them: “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed you could tell that
mulberry tree to uproot and be planted in the sea.”
It’s not about the quantity
of your faith it about the quality.
Faith is a wonderful thing.
In the first reading we hear that the faithful survive because they believe in God’s
justice. The second reading St. Paul calls
faith the gift of God. But these same two readings tell us having faith is hard.
Having faith is hard when we
look around to see ruin and misery, strife and discord, poverty and hunger,
oppression and war. Keeping faith is hard when we realize the evil of
the world. Like the prophet we ask God why evil exists and how long will it go
on?
Having faith in Jesus Christ
is hard. The world places a stigma on us. We face persecution, suffering,
misunderstanding, resentment and hostility because the message of our God is
love.
And about our faith, Jesus
tells us that it’s not how much faith you have; it’s how strong your faith is.
Eight people attended our
healing service this month. They came in faith before the Lord in the sacrament
of the altar. They came to pray in faith that God’s healing would touch them. In
the darkest time of life, they come to Jesus in faith. They come to Jesus for faith.
We come to Jesus for faith
and to have the faith of Jesus.
Jesus had the strongest
faith of any man to walk the earth. But even with all that faith, He was
afraid. On the cross, He cried out to God the Father, Lord why have you
forsaken me.
I remember when my faith was
tested, a time I was afraid. It was a test of faith for my entire family and until
recently I never really understood that test.
My father was a man of
faith. Yet, when he came to the end of his life - he suffered greatly. He suffered from lung disease. The lack of oxygen caused his brain and thoughts to grow dark and
troubled. Almost the entire last year of
his life he was on a ventilator. He slowly
suffocated.
By his life, my father tried
to live as Jesus lived. He taught my brothers and I to have charity for
others. He taught us to respect with justice the dignity of every person.
Jesus lived a life of love.
But before his greatest trial, Jesus went through a dark time in the Garden of
Gethsemane. Jesus’ life ended in suffering. Jesus hung on the cross and he
dried out in despair before his death; death on the cross by slowly suffocating.
My father tried to live like
Christ. In his faith, he gave his suffering to Lord. He even died like Jesus.
It was a dark time for me
and my family. In the darkness of the world, the faithful believe. We asked why
this happened. We asked how long it would hurt. When I was 26, I didn’t have a
lot of faith, but my faith was like that mustard seed, a good quality faith taught by my father. My heart didn’t become harden to God in fact it turned to God
even more.
Faith leads us to become the
unprofitable servants. In faith, we live to teach, preach, and serve in
charity. By faith, we respect with justice the dignity of each and every person.
We do this not for us, but for our Lord. Faith moves us to share the love of
Christ with our brothers and sisters.
By grace alone, we are saved.
Grace gives us that mustard seed of faith that does great things. In grace and
faith we put on a servant’s apron.
Yall be good, yall be holy
and preach the gospel by the way you live and love. Amen.
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