And 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."
Father Andrew Greeley once remarked, "Believing in the Lord is like being pregnant. You either are or you aren't; there is neither a little faith nor a little bit pregnant."
But we find ways to make our doubt, reluctance, and hesitation sound like a kind of faith. We say, "I will follow you, but first let me bury my father." To which Jesus replies, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead."
As we approach the end of the year, as we sort through last week's decisions about our laws and leadership, the Church reminds us of the apocalyptic demands of faith. Decisions have been made and consequences must follow; there is no turning back to Monday, a week ago. No one cares now what undecided voters think.
Today is Veterans Day in the United States, and Remembrance or Armistice Day in several other nations. The commemoration recalls the cessation of hostilities at the end of the First World War; when, "at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" the carnage was supposed to cease.
In the "post-apocalyptic" aftermath, the European nations surveyed the damage of a pointless war. Millions of people had disappeared into the maul of modern warfare; and no one could say what they had been fighting about. (Historians still wonder.) The scope of killing was beyond the imagination of anyone, although the Second World War would be even worse. A third world war with nuclear arms, biological and chemical weapons, kamikaze drones, and Artificial Intelligence will not be followed by a post-apocalypse; there will be no one to survey the desolation.
Today is also, by a happy coincidence, the memorial of Saint Martin of Tours, a soldier turned pacifist, and veteran of the feared Roman army. Becoming a Christian, he realized he could no longer worship the gods of Rome nor obey his Roman military commanders. When he announced his new beliefs to his commanding officer the fellow accused him of cowardice. At which point, he volunteered to face the enemy on the front line in the morrow's battle. However, perhaps by God's design, the enemy retreated without a battle and Martin was discharged.
We remember him as a charitable and courageous bishop who could oppose his fellow bishops. After Christianity had suddenly become respectable, some prelates wanted to execute certain heretics for their beliefs, but Martin defended their right to life and religious freedom. For many centuries he was the only recognized saint who had not died a martyr's death.
Martin's decision as a soldier and his subsequent career as a Catholic bishop remind us you cannot be guided by a little faith. There is no such thing. Because we believe in God we begin each day in prayer. We go to the stream of living water daily to drink and be refreshed. Each day we seek communion with the Lord and his Church and pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us through these confusing times
Like the formerly blind Bartimaeus, we have seen the beautiful face of the Lord Jesus, and we must follow wherever he goes, even to Jerusalem and Calvary.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.