Lk 17: 1-6
Jesus said to his disciples, “Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come! It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble. Be on your guard!
If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive.”
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Yearning For God’s Friendship
When I opened my mailbox a few days ago, I was surprised to find a holiday toy catalog – isn’t October way too early to receive this? What was not surprising, though, was the way that my kids reacted to seeing the catalog. Within minutes, they had already begun the process of carefully examining each page to begin generating their Christmas lists.
“I want this … I have to have that … Santa has to bring me one of these.”
In today’s Gospel, the disciples said to Jesus, “Increase our faith.” Jesus responds by challenging them to consider that faith the size of a mustard seed is all that is needed.
Reading this passage, I cannot help but picture Peter and the others asking the Lord for more faith in a similar manner to my son asking Santa for a new video game console for Christmas. If only it was that easy!
The psalm refrain calls for us to “long to see [God’s] face” (Ps 24:1-6). Yearning for God, not in a superficial “Christmas list” manner but rather an authentic one, is a good starting point for faith. In turn, this allows us to deepen our relationship with God so that we can petition worthily.
In my prayer today, how can I show the Lord that I truly yearn for his friendship?
—Mike Scicchitano is the principal of Jesuit High School in Tampa, Florida.
Prayer
Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
The LORD’s are the earth and its fullness;
the world and those who dwell in it.
For he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?
or who may stand in his holy place?
He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,
who desires not what is vain.
He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks for him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.
—Psalm 24:1-6