I have prayed to do well in the math tests I didn't study for, promising to be an excellent student in the future and live up to my full mathematical potential. Sometimes I have scraped together enough good guesses to answer my prayers. Sometimes I have really regretted not studying.
I have often driven too fast to school, praying and promising God all the way that if I get to school without a wreck or a speeding ticket, I will never be late again.
In this Sunday's gospel, Jesus' friends seem to seek special powers, for like those that I have prayed for - power to get As without studying and to speed without paying. They asked for an increase in their faith.
Jesus insists that faith does not come in medium, large, and extra large. In fact, he seems to poke fun at his disciples when he describes what faith the size of a tiny mustard seed can do. Perhaps he suspects they want to do wonders and show off. "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to the sycamore tree, 'Be uprooted and transplanted into the sea, and it will obey too."
Why would anyone want to transplant a sycamore tree into the sea? Such an act might dazzle spectators, but what is the point? The tree won't survive. What kind of faith throws big shade trees into the sea?
If faith is a gift that gives us power over things, then of course we want more of it. We might want to be like the master in the gospel, who orders his servant around instead of ordering trees into the sea.
But our faith isn't about having power over trees or people. Faith moves us, not trees, or servants, or math grades.
Questions for reflection:
1. When and how have you experienced being part of something bigger than yourself?
2. How is expressing one's inner spirit also an experience of God?
3. How is your relationship with God like the author's in Keeping Faith?
I have often driven too fast to school, praying and promising God all the way that if I get to school without a wreck or a speeding ticket, I will never be late again.
In this Sunday's gospel, Jesus' friends seem to seek special powers, for like those that I have prayed for - power to get As without studying and to speed without paying. They asked for an increase in their faith.
Jesus insists that faith does not come in medium, large, and extra large. In fact, he seems to poke fun at his disciples when he describes what faith the size of a tiny mustard seed can do. Perhaps he suspects they want to do wonders and show off. "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to the sycamore tree, 'Be uprooted and transplanted into the sea, and it will obey too."
Why would anyone want to transplant a sycamore tree into the sea? Such an act might dazzle spectators, but what is the point? The tree won't survive. What kind of faith throws big shade trees into the sea?
If faith is a gift that gives us power over things, then of course we want more of it. We might want to be like the master in the gospel, who orders his servant around instead of ordering trees into the sea.
But our faith isn't about having power over trees or people. Faith moves us, not trees, or servants, or math grades.
Questions for reflection:
1. When and how have you experienced being part of something bigger than yourself?
2. How is expressing one's inner spirit also an experience of God?
3. How is your relationship with God like the author's in Keeping Faith?
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