Faith... Wiara...

 

Luke 17:5-10

Say, 'We are merely servants'

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.”

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   While we are reading the today’s Gospel of Luke, we may be surprised why the Apostles asked for more faith? They were with Lord 24 hours per day, for three years, and they could hear and listen to Him. Although, they say to Jesus: “increase our faith”. 

 

This request comes from two reasons. First, they really needed the response of Lord, because there were so fragile and weak. The situation on the cross showed that they were full of fear and doubts. Only John had the courage to stay with Mary and Mary Magdalene under the Cross. 

 

The second reason was that they felt humility, which means: my relationship with God is so individual and personal, I need God’s grace and help. 

 

That situation and the feelings of the Apostles are the keys to understand the Gospel which has been given to us. 

 

My faith is individual and unique. As I said many times, the experience of faith is dynamic and spiritual, we cannot touch it or measure it. If this is a spiritual issue, I need God and his power to maintain my faith. 

 

Why do we have to care about our faith? Because it is like a leaf in the air, so delicate. It has not been given forever, but it needs my attention. 

 

This is the reason to pray and ask for the increase of my faith and relationship with God, like a child, who asks for the help of its parents. 

 

Faith is a challenge and it has been an effort for many. One of the examples of that is the life of St. Theresa of Kolkata. We know her as a great witness of God and faith, the giant of charity, helping the poor and rejected people. But one episode of her life is not well known. For many years, she used to suffer from “the dark night of the spirit”, which means, that she suffered from the dryness of faith, prayer, and the presence of God. In her case, it was not a lack of faith, but God gave her an opportunity to purify her relationship with him, to love more and to offer her life to the end. 

 

That time was the real Golgotha and the Gethsemane Garden for Theresa.

 

The subject of faith is not easy and simple, and the Gospel places before our eyes the experience of our relationship with God, which always should be my priority and urgent need in life. 

 

God has left us prayer and the sacraments to use and flourish our faith. May the words of Christ be the greatest mobilization: “but anyone who stands firm to the end will be saved” Mt 24,13. Amen.

(Łk 17, 5-10)
Apostołowie prosili Pana: "Przymnóż nam wiary». Pan rzekł: "Gdybyście mieli wiarę jak ziarnko gorczycy, powiedzielibyście tej morwie: „Wyrwij się z korzeniem i przesadź się w morze”, a byłaby wam posłuszna. Kto z was, mając sługę, który orze lub pasie, powie mu, gdy on wróci z pola: „Pójdź i siądź do stołu”? Czy nie powie mu raczej: „Przygotuj mi wieczerzę, przepasz się i usługuj mi, aż zjem i napiję się, a potem ty będziesz jadł i pił”? Czy dziękuje słudze za to, że wykonał to, co mu polecono? Tak mówcie i wy, gdy uczynicie wszystko, co wam polecono: „Słudzy nieużyteczni jesteśmy; wykonaliśmy to, co powinniśmy wykonać”.