Hab 1:12-2:4 Ps 9:8-9, 10-11, 12-13 Matt 17:14-20

Weekly Guide for Daily Prayer The Daily Reflections

In today’s Gospel, the Apostles are trying to drive out a demon, but they are unable to do so.  Then Jesus approaches them and tells them they failed "Because of your little faith.”  There are times when I find myself wondering how much faith the Apostles had.  These were men who lived with Jesus, traveled with him, and saw his many wondrous works.  They witnessed the healing of the sick and the lame, the blind who were given sight, and even the dead who were raised to life, and yet Jesus tells them they cannot drive out demons because of their little faith.  How little my own faith must be in comparison to theirs'.

Christ follows this up by telling us that with faith the size of a mustard seed, we could move mountains.  We often hear this phrase.  A mustard seed is the smallest of seeds and yet, when fully grown, it becomes the greatest of plants. Growing up in Kansas, however, you realize just how distorted some perceptions of this saying can be.  We typically think of a mustard plant as being a giant tree, towering above others, but a mustard plant is a weed, and with one seed, an entire field can be ruined because a mustard plant will quickly spread and take over an entire field.  So it is with our lives.  If our faith was like a mustard seed, it would spread throughout our lives, finding its way into every corner of our lives.  If we even crack open the door to our hearts, God will fill us with his love and transform every aspect of our lives.

So what would our lives look like if we allowed Christ’s love to break the bonds we have constructed within our own hearts?  “Nothing will be impossible for you,” is all that Christ says.  We will be able to move mountains.  This may seem appealing at first glance, but then we realize that there are two ways to move a mountain.  First, we could move the entire formation all at once, but I do not think that was what Christ is referring to.  Instead, I think he is telling us that we will be given the graces to move mountains one rock at a time.  We all have mountains in our lives that need to be moved because they stand between us and our ultimate destination, the Kingdom of Heaven.  Having faith in Christ allows us to love him more, so that we might begin to move those mountains between us one stone at a time.  It may seem like an endless task, and Satan will tempt us to think that our work is entirely futile, worthless, and point us toward despair, but if we are sound, unwavering, and persevere through those difficult times, we will find ourselves at our glorious end, being welcomed into the new and eternal Jerusalem.