A Smidge of Faith

By -

 



In the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 17, Verse 5, the apostles ask Jesus to increase their faith.  What is the measure of your faith?  Do you have just a smidge of faith, or a lot? 

Interestingly, Jesus seems to imply that it doesn't matter.  

You see, just a morsel of faith is incredibly powerful.  In his words, he tells the apostles, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to [this] mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you."

I checked out mulberry trees.  They don't actually have ears, so they cannot hear you tell them to move.  Neither do they have the ability to move themselves, so what gives?

Oh I'm just kidding.  Well, not really.  They don't have ears nor the ability to move themselves.

But seriously, mulberry trees shoot up quickly and have a few different varieties.  They reach maturity in about ten years.  Truthfully, their roots can be so aggressive that they can even lift up sidewalks!  

We saw a sidewalk that had been lifted up many years ago when some straight-line winds plowed through a vacation spot where we were staying.  It was a pretty amazing sight.  The uprooted tree revealed the strong, powerful wind that moved against it.

So I guess it's like that.  If you have just a kernel of faith--the size of a tiny mustard seed--the potential impact that comes from putting your faith into action, can be tremendous.  Don't worry if it seems like your faith isn't as big and splashy as you think it should be.  A little can go a long way.

Janet Cassidy
janetcassidy.blogspot.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SAINT ELIZABETH, MOTHER OF JOHN THE BAPTIST- Feast: November 5

By -
Image
Elizabeth appears in the Gospel of Luke, where she is described as “righteous in the eyes of God, observing all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly,”.  I imagine that she was warm, loving and obviously a safe harbour for young Mary, who was not married when she conceived.  When Mary came to visit her, Elizabeth was pregnant with St. John the Baptist and in her sixth month: “Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And how have I deserved that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, the moment that the sound of thy greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leapt for joy. And blessed is she who has believed, because the things promised her by the Lord shall be accomplished.” 
Read more

The Memorare

By Helen Gonsalves -
Image
This popular prayer, a favorite of many Catholics, dates back to the 15th century and takes its name from the first Latin word of the prayer, "memorare," which means "remember." The Memorare is of unknown authorship, although it has been attributed to St. Augustine (354-430), St. John Chrysostom (c. 347-407) and, with more reason, to St. Bernard of Clairvaux (c. 1090-1153). St. Bernard's sermons on Mary were famous, and it was his Cistercian monks in the monastery of Citeaux in the 12th century who popularized the name "Our Lady" for Mary. The Memorare has also been attributed to the French cleric Claude Bernard (1588-1641), known as the "poor priest" of Paris, whose homilies contain passages that echo its words. No matter who wrote this prayer, it was Father Bernard who did much to popularize it, teaching it in hospitals and prisons, where Mary's intercession was effective in working miracles of grace. The first manuscript of the Mem...
Read more

'Greater Love: Richie Fernando SJ', a joy-filled Filipino missionary

By -
Image
 I haven't been able to post for more than a week as I was giving an eight-day directed retreat to eight sisters of the Missionaries of Charity near Manila. While I had some access to the internet it was rather slow. I had intended to make a post here on the murder of Fr Fausto Tentorio PIME , a 59-year-old Italian priest, in the Diocese of Kidapawan, Mindanao, on Monday 17 October. I will save that post for a later date. As I was looking for a video about Father Fausto I came across one about Brother Richard Michael 'Richie' Fernando SJ, a Filipino Jesuit scholastic who died while trying to prevent a troubled and disabled young man in Cambodia from throwing a grenade. That was in 1996 - on 17 October. Father Fausto gave his life exactly 15 years later. I remember the mixture of sorrow and pride I felt when I read of the death of Brother Richie, pride as a missionary in the Philippines that a young Filipino seminarian had given his life so spontaneously in order to sav...
Read more