Posted on octubre 3, 2025 View all Gospel Reflection
“If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” (cf Psalm 95:7-8)
Jesus gives an example that is pretty dramatic in today’s Gospel. He says to his listeners (and to each of us) “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.” (Luke 17:6)
That seems to be a pretty tall order. Anyone who has done any kind of gardening knows how much work is required to move one large bush like the mulberry tree and plant it in another location. Even professional landscapers have big equipment to help them come and do that kind of work.
So, if that seems to be such hard work what is Jesus telling us today? I think that he is trying to encourage us. He sees our faith. He also sees how we doubt even the amount of faith that we have. But his message is clear, we only need the amount of faith the size of a mustard seed. A seed that is like dust.
If we had such faith, our Lord would be able to work tremendous miracles. Looking back at the Old Testament, we see how the people of Israel had seen God’s power at work, yet they doubted and rebelled. But even so, God accepted their sorrow and repentance, led them to the promised land and ultimately fulfilled the prophesy that from their midst would come the Messiah – the Savior of the world – Our Lord Jesus Christ.
As we look further at the message of Jesus, we see that not only did he encourage the listeners by uplifting their faith, he also reminds us that our faith must have a response. In that response we are called to be like the good and faithful servants. But Jesus tells us that if we just do the minimum of what we are asked to do, we are unprofitable servants.
I think the inspiration is that we should allow our hearts to take the leap of faith and trust in God’s power. If we take that step, then we can accomplish many things that are beyond our imagination. Furthermore, we can inspire others to walk with us. St. Paul reminds us that we should bear our share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God. (cf 2 Timothy 1:8) We should have hearts that listen and are not hardened by sinfulness for as the first reading ends, “the rash one has no integrity; but the just one, because of his faith, shall live.” Habakkuk 2:4)
