A Meditation on the Gospel of Saint Luke, Chapter Sixteen, Verses Five through Ten.
Monsignor Joji Vadakara, Vatican City
The Church suggests for our consideration today the Gospel of Saint Luke, the seventeenth chapter, five to ten. Chapter seventeen of Saint Luke’s Gospel begins with Jesus’ advice to his disciples. Jesus is speaking to people who have been specially chosen and called to walk with him. When Jesus teaches not to provoke others, seven times a day, that is, to be ready to forgive your brother who wrongs you many times, one of the apostles, who is convinced of their weaknesses and their failures, asking the Lord to increase our faith.
Deep faith
This is where we come to the first message of the Gospel today. Jesus tells an important truth in the life of faith to the disciples who seek the help of the Son of Man to increase their faith. “If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, shake this sycamore tree, and it will obey you” (v. 6). The roots of the sycamore are deep and strong. But Jesus teaches his disciples a truth that strong faith can uproot even a tree with strong roots. Christ gives them encouragement, no matter how deep the roots of evil have grown in the human heart, against the divine thoughts and ways of life, if the faith in God is strong, the apostles have enough of possibilities to root them all. If we do not want to offend others, if hatred and enmity against our brothers have grown strong roots in our hearts like the sycamore, we must be able to cultivate a true and deep faith in God, who is stronger than them. Because even a little faith in Almighty God can uproot the strong roots of evil, sin. This is the message that Jesus gives here. The success of your spiritual life will depend on who your faith is and what your faith is.
Faith and hard work
In the second part of today’s Gospel, Jesus tells the story of a servant who serves his master. Plowing the land is not an easy task. It’s a job that requires you to get down and work in the dirt and mud, that is, even in difficult places. The one who prepares soil for cultivation must be prepared to continue working in the face of sun and rain. It is the same with the shepherd. He must be concerned about every sheep. They should be kept safe, without any accidents, animals or people carrying them. Have a heart that loves them. But the servant who returns to his master’s house after hard work must be ready to work again. He should be ready to continue the work of a servant, a servant, even after a long day’s labor.
There is also a life of faith for those who are ready to work continuously. Christ teaches that disciples should be ready for unceasing labor in the life of faith. In the first chapter of the second epistle written by St. Paul to Timothy, Paul calls to ignite the divine talent received by hand (v. 6) and to share in sufferings for the sake of the Lord, for the sake of the gospel. (v. 8). No matter how hard life’s conditions are, no matter how many temptations burn and weaken us, we must overcome all difficulties, develop faith in God more, sow divine values in our hearts, and be ready to grow the fruit of goodness. When we are ready to work, without ever getting tired, according to the voice of our Master, Lord, God, faith, as small as a mustard seed, is strong enough to uproot trees growing in us.
Faith breeds humility
A third message that Jesus gives in the second part of the story of the master and the servant is the attitude of humility. Christ’s disciples are called to be humble people the deeper our faith. That is why Jesus talks about the master telling the servant who returns after a long day of work to continue his service, the servant’s work. The life of faith is therefore a life of continuous effort. But as a servant, a Christian should carry on patiently and without fail the work entrusted to him, humbly as a servant. There, not rights, but duties await him. God’s blessing is not something that can be caught. Rather, it is a gift. A man who does everything according to God’s commands in his life of faith should submit himself and wait for God’s time for God’s favor. We grow into men of spirituality strong enough to root out the weeds of sin when we consider ourselves servants of God and we begin to labor with a grateful heart, taking advantage of the opportunities we get to serve him.
A life of God’s blessing to us
Dear brothers and sisters,
Jesus tells us these truths that Christ teaches in response to the apostles’ request to increase their faith, that is, only through hard work and humble service throughout our lives can we deepen our faith, live a high spiritual life without causing harm to others, and forgiving our brothers and sisters who wrong us without measure. . Through the thoughts of today’s scripture, God reminds us that we should be ready to dedicate our lives to Christ, who came down to earth for our salvation, who carried our sins on his own shoulders, and was n live according to his orders. We should be ready to serve God by standing close to God everywhere and at every moment in our lives. Our spiritual life and our faith become deep and meaningful when we are ready to live and work for the God who makes heaven accessible to us. May God bless us to remember God’s call to live with faith, to remember our lives, to be grateful to God, to work in God’s field, and to labor in God’s house. Amen
