Luke 17: 5-10

The apostles said to the Lord, “Make our faith stronger!”

Jesus replied: “If you had faith no bigger than a tiny mustard seed, you could tell this mulberry tree to pull itself up, roots and all, and to plant itself in the ocean. And it would!

If your servant comes in from ploughing or from taking care of the sheep. Would you say, “Welcome! Come on in and have something to eat”?

No, you wouldn’t say that. You would say, “Fix me something to eat. Get ready to serve me, so I can have my meal. Then later on you can eat and drink.”

Servants don’t deserve special thanks for doing what they are supposed to do.

And that’s how it should be with you. When you’ve done all you should, then say, “We are merely servants, and we have simply done our duty.”

Gospel Reflection

A friend of mine gave me some acorns, with the idea that I would make them into prayer beads.

I tipped them out and there, amongst them all, was an acorn with a crack in its golden shell and the palest green shoot beginning to sprout.

This acorn knew exactly what it was; knew why God had created it and what God intended it to be and wasn’t going to let a few hundred miles and the total absence of either light, soil or water from distracting it from its purpose. It was on a growing curve; one inch to 100 plus feet in however many years it may take. It had to start somewhere and the paper bag was enough.

Faith, true faith, doesn’t really ask for much either; just the time and opportunity to grow. To know who we are; to recognise our vocation; to desire, against all odds, to fulfil our calling; to find a place to realise that vocation.

The strength of faith is that it may measure only an inch – but in its mind it is a hundred feet tall.