On the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
in Year C, the apostles ask Jesus to increase their faith. And Jesus tells them they only need a little
bit of faith to do miracles. But then that
leads him to something else, to what it means to be a humble servant of God. Why does one lead to the other?
Here is the Gospel passage.
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.'"
~Lk 17:5-10
What may confuse you in the parable is that the worker out in the field is asked to do more work when he walks in, and the worker, we are told, would prefer to do more work. The expectation would be to have the worker “take his place at the table.” Jesus expects more work, not a reward. But that is the twist of the parable. The Master of the house is God and we should be willing to do more and more work for the Lord, and have the humility to not be rewarded.
Fr. Terrance Chantier
of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate explains the passage.
I liked this from Fr, Terrance: pride has “I” in the center while trust has “U” in the center. Lord, please increase not just my faith but my humility. Perhaps what Jesus detected from the apostles was a show of spiritual pride when they asked Him to increase their faith.
I chose for the pastoral
Pope Leo XIV from this day’s homily which was coordinated with a celebration
for the Jubilees for World Missionaries and for Migrants.
I have become impressed with Pope Leo’s homilies. You can read it here. There are so many heartfelt ideas in this homily. Let me quote a couple.
“This is a salvation that is fulfilled when we take responsibility and,
with the compassion of the Gospel, care for the suffering of others; it is a
salvation that leads the way, silently and apparently without success, in daily
words and actions, which become precisely like the tiny seed of which Jesus
speaks; it is a salvation that slowly grows when we become “unworthy servants”,
namely when we place ourselves at the service of the Gospel and of our brothers
and sisters, not seeking our own interests but only bringing God’s love to the
world.”
And the first line of
his concluding paragraph: “I entrust all of you to the intercession of Mary,
the first of her Son’s missionaries, who went in haste to the hill country of
Judea, carrying Jesus in her womb and putting herself at the service of
Elizabeth.” If there was ever a perfect
example of an unprofitable servant, it was our Blessed Mother,
Sunday Meditation: “When you have done all you have bee commanded, say,
'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.'"
The wonderful “Servant Song” for our hymn.
What do you want of me, Lord?
Where do you want me to serve you?
Where can I sing your praises.
I am your song.
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