A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 17:1-6)
And the Apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”
What did Jesus say that touched the hearts of the disciples so that they exclaim, “Increase our faith”? In today’s Gospel, he tells them to be on guard for causing others to sin. He says to them, “It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.” Jesus acknowledges that sin inevitably occurs and at the same time gives us the means for peace and justice. “If your brother sins,” Jesus says, “rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, ‘I am sorry,’ you should forgive him.” Recognizing the difficulty of rebuking and forgiving one another, the Apostles hear and respond to the Lord. Lord, increase our faith.
Father in heaven, thank you for your hand that guides me and your presence that hems me in. Where can I go that your hand is not on me or that I go even a minute unnoticed by you? “Where can I go from your spirit?” the psalmist asks. “From your presence where can I flee?” But how do I see that and believe it in the course of the day when I encounter ordinary stress and anxiety and am weak in being just and offering forgiveness? Just as the Apostles asked, I also ask you: “Increase my faith!” Give me integrity of heart, Lord, to seek you and trust that you guide me in your truth.
From the responsorial psalm: “Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know the whole of it. Behind me and before, you hem me in and rest your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; too lofty for me to attain. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.” Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, pray for us!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.