Saturday of the Eighteenth Week of Ordinary Time

August 9, 2008 · Filed Under Homilies, Ordinary Time 

Today’s readings

“Because of your little faith.” If that was the allegation of Jesus’ disciples, those men and women walking with him in person day after day, how much more does it apply to us today? How many situations absolutely confound us? How many injustices seem chronically irreparable? How many emotional crises seem insurmountable? There are demons of all shapes and sizes and types. How effective are we at casting out those demons of addiction, ignorance, or apathy? Why can’t we drive them out? Because of our little faith.

I always bristled a bit at the instruction at the end of today’s Gospel about moving a great mountain. I was pretty sure I’d never have faith that big, and even if I did, why would I want to move a mountain?! But we get all this wrong. It’s as if it depends on us, and it certainly does not. Are we convinced that God can move mountains, that he can drive out demons, that he can respond to addiction, ignorance and apathy? Certainly. But that kind of believing has to get beyond just being in our heads and come out in our words and actions and living.

Because faith is useless if we never put it into practice. It might be tough to be in the midst of addiction, emotional crisis, or injustice, but that’s when we need to depend on our faith. What good is our faith unless it can lead us through hard times and accomplish great things in the midst of the messiness of life? Habakkuk tells us today that “the just man, because of his faith, shall live.” That might not seem possible when we are in the midst of crisis. But our faith tells us that whatever happens, God will never stop being with us.

Maybe we’ll never move a mountain. Who wants to anyway? But with faith we can certainly move from a dark place to light, from despair to peace, from sadness to joy.

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    So we don't think that we can move mountains?
    There have been plenty of examples in US history where we (collectively) moved mountains.
    In WWII, Germany had taken France and a number of other countries. It looked like Great Britain would fall. Roosevelt had a hard time getting the congress to go along with loaning arms to Britain. Who wants to load to someone who will probably not be able to pay you back? Gernany was a mountain that was moved.
    In the 1980s, the Soviet Union was a mountain of a country. Many people did not like Reagan's tough talk with "the evil empire". They thought it was an unmovable mountain.
    In the time of Lincoln, many people thought that the institution of slavery was a mountain that could not be moved. They sought to keep slavery from expanding, but didn't think that they could end it where it existed. Abolitionists kept fighting and moved that mountain.
    Roe vs Wade as the Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion is a mountain. Many think that this mountain can not be moved. But how many thought that any of the other mountains that this country has faced would have been moved?
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    I appreciate your many comments, but I have to say, you are totally missing the point on this one. Moving the mountain is not about us, never ever ever about us, not us individually and not us collectively. Moving the mountain is about faith in the One who can do anything he wills, faith in God. These are all inspiring examples of human progress, but they are nothing compared to what God can do, if our faith would be even as tiny as a mustard seed.
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    I may have went off the path on this one. What I meant to say (or should have meant to say) is that if we look at all that we as a people have been able to do on our own (although we may not have been on our own since we are a people of faith) then we should be able to believe that we can do much more (even move mountains) if God so commands us to or allows us to. It may even have been through our faith that we have been able to do the things that we have done. Didn't mean to indicate that we can do these things on our own or that they compare to what God can do.
    But I got a response out of you so I know that you read my post. :>)
 
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