Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
Matthew 17:14-20 Jesus’ explanation for his disciples’ inability to cast out a demon causing epilepsy - because they did not have enough faith - was clearly jarring to the disciples. They had approached Jesus to find out ‘what they did wrong’. But it wasn’t what they had done wrong, but rather that they had been mistakenly relying on their own skills, instead of relying on the nature of God. The faith Jesus says that his disciples lack is not the so-called faith of a faith-healer, who might say, I command the pain to disappear. That kind of healing is a showy and an exterior fix. The faith that Jesus says will move mountains comes from the kind of relationship he had with his Father in heaven. We are told that during his ministry, Jesus constantly referenced his teachings and his works to the mercy and the creativity of his heavenly Father - and spent hours alone in prayer with him. Every relationship, every meeting and every conversation was founded and grounded in his own relationship with God. As much as Jesus was aligned with his Father, his faith was grounded and sufficient to do anything in the realm of God’s will. This is the constant, clear and powerful faith that the disciples lacked. This is the kind of faith I need, to move, according to God’s will, the mountains of injustice, oppression, suffering, ignorance and stubbornness that plague my family, my community, and our world today. Will I open my soul to God to become so aligned with the Holy Spirit that I will have true faith the size of a mustard seed, enough to allow God to move the mountains of sin and suffering around me? Holy Spirit of Jesus, help me open my soul to your kind of faith. We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. (2 Peter 1:16 ) God has not called me to be successful. He has called me to be faithful. St. Mother Theresa of Calcutta No Christian today can afford to be asleep, compromised, or complacent about anything. The life and death of the glove, to say nothing of billions of souls, is at stake. Jean Fox, in Inflamed by Love, 2002 (Madonna House Publications) Soli ad gloriam Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook & www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorBeverly Illauq lives in Kemptville, Ontario, where she greets each morning by seeking the Gospel Mystery of the Day - the Word of the Lord for direct and practical application to the specific challenges & joys of the day. Archives
March 2024
Categories |