Faith and Service: Living God’s Gift with Gratitude
Listening the Spirit
"Heavenly Father, I come before You, longing to strengthen my faith. Help me to trust You with all my heart, even when doubts and uncertainties arise. Fill me with Your peace and give me strength to believe that You are working all things for good. Renew my spirit and help me stand firm in faith, even when I feel weak. Amen".
Listening the Word: Luke 17:5-10
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.'"
Reflection
Apparently in the gospel of this Sunday it seems that Jesus is talking about two topics that are
not related to each other: faith and service to God. But, in fact, these two topics are deeply
connected.
Our relationship with God is not any sort of a work contract. We cannot say to God: Look, I will
work for you – that is, I will put into practice your commandments – and you will pay me
accordingly – that is, you will grant me access to heaven. That was the attitude of the Pharisees
at the time of Jesus. They thought that they could earn the right to enter heaven by practicing the
613 precepts that they extracted from the bible. But we are not in a position to do that, because it
does not change anything for God whether we follow the commandments or disobey them.
Moreover, we cannot give anything to God, because everything we have, and even everything
we are, comes from him and is his.
We do not deserve eternal life in heaven as a reward for our obedience, because life – both in this
world and in the afterworld – is a free gift that God gives us out of his love for us. This is our
faith: we believe that God is our Father in heaven, who loves us much more than we can ever
hope for. If we believe this, we will be able to tell him that we are grateful for the life he has
given us and also for giving us the commandments, which show us the way to becoming good
people, men and women in the image of God himself.
Reflection Questions
- How does understanding our relationship with God as a free gift, rather than a contract, change the way I live out my faith and service?
- In what ways can I express gratitude to God for the gift of life and his commandments in my daily choices and actions?
