A Homily – The Gospel of Luke 17:5 - 10 ©

The Gospel of the Day – 2016.10.02

The Mustard Seed

The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith.’ The Lord replied, ‘Were your 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.

  ‘Which of you, with a servant ploughing or minding sheep, would say to him when he returned from the fields, “Come and have your meal immediately”? Would he not be more likely to say, “Get my supper laid; make yourself tidy and wait on me while I eat and drink. You can eat and drink yourself afterwards”? Must he be grateful to the servant for doing what he was told? So with you: when you have done all you have been told to do, say, “We are merely servants: we have done no more than our duty.”’

The Way, Faith is Trust

Pay close attention to the Gospel, especially on those occasions when the message is cryptic, or the meaning of the parable is unclear.

Interpret these passages from the middle of the way; with love, and with hope, and with justice.

Faith means trust, it is not magic. Our faith is neither the content of our beliefs, nor can it be measured for quality, quantity, or intensity.

Faith is trust, which a person with has, or does not have.

If we trust in the promise of the Gospel, in the good news which Jesus preached, then we are able to free ourselves from the greed and corruption, the class consciousness that foments injustice around the world.

Trust, in the good news is what allows the master to become the servant, to walk humbly in the service of justice.

Jesus rebukes the Apostles, he knows where their hearts are. He knows that they are using their position in the communities of believers to place themselves in positions of authority and influence over the average believer. He knows they have abandoned the way, and he encourages them to return to the place of the servant.

27^th Sunday in Ordinary Time