Gospel Lectio Divina for Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time - October 2, 2022
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.
READ
Lk 17: 5-10
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.
"Who among you would say to your servant
who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field,
'Come here immediately and take your place at table'?
Would he not rather say to him,
'Prepare something for me to eat.
Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink.
You may eat and drink when I am finished'?
Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?
So should it be with you.
When you have done all you have been commanded,
say, 'We are unprofitable servants;
we have done what we were obliged to do.'"
MEDITATE
"Increase our faith."
This Sunday’s Responsorial Psalm ends with the verse, “they tested me though they had seen my works." Last week, Jesus told a parable that ended with, “If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.” In both instances, Scripture is saying, “If all God has done for you up to this point is not enough to increase your faith, then nothing will.” So that theme runs through this week’s Gospel and last week’s. Still, I say “I have not seen wonders or miracles, Lord”. In this way I am like a spoiled child who has been given many gifts, but fails to appreciate their value because I’ve always received them. God could perform a miracle everyday, and I would only grow accustomed to them, and expect more from him–saying those miracles prove nothing because they are commonplace. In fact, the way the celestial bodies dance in sync, the way life springs from the ground, these are all wonders. But because the sun rises and sets every day, it is not enough for many of us.
Is it too much to ask for something out of the ordinary, though? God knows what kinds of things would increase my faith–and they’re not the common things. Faith is a gift from God, and yet I try to make God earn it from me. How does that make sense? When I ask for faith, it should be because I love it so much and can’t get enough, not because I lack it and want to test God to see if he is even worthy of it.
"and it would obey you.
Who is obeying whom in this parable? The tree obeys the one who commands it. You see but, who is commanding who in the statement before? The disciples are, in a way, commanding Jesus to increase their faith. Jesus has to correct them. The tree does not command the person of faith to cast himself into the sea. The person of faith commands the tree. It’s easy to forget the relation between the one commanding and the one expected to follow the command in these two verses.
If the disciples are telling Jesus to do something by saying, “Increase our faith,” then they are expecting Jesus to obey them. The perception of the disciples is backwards though. The creation does not command the creator. The creator commands the creation. If the disciples had faith, they would be in God’s will, and they would therefore have the power to command the creation–they would be able to say to the tree “Be uprooted and planted in the sea,” and it would obey them. Is this hyperbole? No. But no one has enough faith to do what he is saying. So does no one have faith even the size of a mustard seed? I would say the saints did, and perhaps some people on earth today do. But no one with faith has a need to uproot mulberry trees. Those who have faith are in God’s will, and are accomplishing much more fruitful works through their faith. So the mulberry tree is not so much a hyperbole as it is a metaphor for the great deeds we are capable of accomplishing when we have faith and live in God’s will.
Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?
It sounds like the master in this parable is ungrateful to his servant. But remember what Jesus said in the paragraph just before this one, and what he has alluded to elsewhere: If you have faith, whatever you ask will be granted. It may sound like Jesus is saying ‘Just do what you’re told, and be thankful for what God has already given you.’ In fact, that’s often what I get out of this passage when I read it. But I decided to meditate on it a little more this time, and I now see that God is telling us about the power of faith. This makes sense because he is thus continuing on the same theme as the paragraph above. Look at all he has to offer if I simply have faith. And yet still, I demand more proof. Jesus stands before us, showing us that all of creation is at the command of the one who has faith.
Before we can understand the role faith plays, we have to get our own role in this parable right. When the disciples said, “Increase our faith,” they were not the servants. They were making a request, and Jesus is now telling them how to have it granted. The only way to increase our faith is to conform ourselves to God’s will, so we become one with him and become heirs of his power. Jesus is describing the proper relation between the creator and his creation. The creator does not have to be grateful to his creation for simply doing what the creator commanded. In the same way, the one who has faith does not doubt the creator’s abilities. So all this time, in asking for faith, I have been doubting what God can do. Jesus is inviting me to flip the script to see that all of creation is at his command, and when a miracle happens–the person of faith expects nothing less from God, because that’s just nature doing what it is obliged to do, which is to obey its creator.
The more I meditate on Scripture, the more layers of wisdom I see. The first layer is: Be grateful for the blessings God has already given us and don’t expect more. But underneath that is God’s invitation to be like him, to have creation under our command by doing his will. That is the only way we can be granted such a command, but God still offers it to those who are humble enough to know that all power has been given to us through him–and through him alone.
PRAY
Lord,
I now see how I do in fact have faith smaller than a mustard seed, but I hear you calling me and offering me more faith. It’s there for the taking. I just have to take the leap. I have seen enough proof, yet I still hesitate. The time is now. Enough with the tests. It’s time to take the graces you have already given me and put my faith to the test, and to stop putting you to the test. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
LISTEN
When I do not listen, I often completely misinterpret what Jesus is saying. That then leads to me growing spiteful toward his message. But when I take the time to really meditate on what he is saying, and when I take the time to really contemplate, I often discover that what Jesus is really saying is there is more to what he was saying. This is a helpful lesson not only for reading Scripture, but also for improving other relationships in our lives. When I am angry at someone, it’s often because I simply misunderstand where they are coming from. It takes patience to really get to the root of their motivations and reasoning, but when I am patient I begin to see their point of view and that quells my anger toward them. So let’s take the time to listen more closely, not just to Scripture, but also to what other people are saying. In these ways, we may just discover some pearls of truth that can enrich our lives.
Kilby is a freelance writer from New Jersey and managing editor of Catholic World Report.
