Reflection in the Scripture Readings for the Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied, . . . “Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from ploughing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table.” Would you not rather say to him, “Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink”? Luke 17:5,7-8

In Sunday’s first reading we hear, “How long, O Lord?  I cry for help  but you do not listen!.  I cry out to you, ‘Violence!’  but you do not intervene.”  Habakkuk 1:2  Then the apostles centuries later ask Jesus to increase their faith.  Jesus’ response seems odd to us who want instant, magical answers like mulberry bushes that replant themselves with no attention needed from us. And in the same vein Jesus speaks of our wishing that we could eat without anyone having to direct and execute the planting, cooking, serving, etc.

God could have made us and the world in such a way that, if we needed nourishment, it could be supplied with no help from us, perhaps God could have made us get nourishment by a snap of our fingers.  But God didn’t.  No, instead God seems to have required us to have a part to play in the process.  We need to make choices and do things, for instance, plant and nurture crops, harvest, prepare, cook and eat. Is not the same true when it comes to establishing peace and eliminating violence?

Perhaps the Lord’s message, one we need to hear today, is that violence will be gone and our faith will increase only when we realize that growth comes from inside of us  – from the spirit with which we enter into our everyday living – rather than from asking God to intervene or waiting for God to make a miracle.  God already made the miracle when God made each of us!

And, in case you missed seeing this on the news or want to meditate on the message, click here to watch the brother of Botham Jean’s words of love, forgiveness and nonviolence to the woman police officer who killed his brother.