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.
27th
Sunday in Ordinary Time
