Twenty-seventh Sunday of the Year, C – October 2, 2016.
Readings: Hab 1:2-3; 2:2-4; Responsorial Psalm Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9; 2 Tm 1:6-8, 13-14; Gospel Lk 17:5-10.
Theme: Faith that Moves Mountains
Our Sunday liturgy centres on the theme of faith which the penny catechism defines as "the supernatural gift of God which makes us believe without seeing whatever God has revealed." The Letter to the Hebrews (11:1) lends credence to this definition when it says: "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."
The conceptions above confirm the biblical dictum, "For we walk by faith and not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7). Over the years, I have settled for the definition of faith which describes it as, “the coat that warms us of the cold of unbelief."
The gospel (Lk 17:5-10) starts on a note of requisition. The apostles asked Jesus to increase their faith. The reason is not farfetched - in previous chapters of Luke, Jesus had laid before them the cost of discipleship and implications of scandalising little ones.
By so doing, they knew that following him was not by power or might (Zechariah 4:6). They needed Jesus to consolidate their faith - A requisition that becomes a reference point for would be disciples.
