First reading Habakkuk 1:12-2:4
If the vision comes slowly, wait: it will come without fail
Are not you, from ancient times the Lord,
my God, my Holy One, who never dies?
O Lord, you have made this people an instrument of justice,
set it firm as a rock in order to punish.
Your eyes are too pure to rest on wickedness,
you cannot look on at tyranny.
Why do you look on while men are treacherous,
and stay silent while the evil man swallows a better man than he?
You treat mankind like fishes in the sea,
like creeping, masterless things.
A people, these, who catch all on their hook,
who draw them with their net,
in their dragnet gather them,
and so, triumphantly, rejoice.
At this, they offer a sacrifice to their net,
and burn incense to their dragnet,
for providing them with luxury
and lavish food.
Are they then to empty their net unceasingly,
slaughtering nations without pity?
I will stand on my watchtower,
and take up my post on my battlements,
watching to see what he will say to me,
what answer he will make to my complaints.
Then the Lord answered and said,
‘Write the vision down,
inscribe it on tablets
to be easily read,
since this vision is for its own time only:
eager for its own fulfilment, it does not deceive;
if it comes slowly, wait,
for come it will, without fail.
‘See how he flags, he whose soul is not at rights,
but the upright man will live by his faithfulness.’
Responsorial Psalm 9A(9):8-13
You will never forsake those who seek you, O Lord.
The Lord sits enthroned for ever.
He has set up his throne for judgement;
he will judge the world with justice,
he will judge the peoples with his truth.
For the oppressed let the Lord be a stronghold,
a stronghold in times of distress.
Those who know your name will trust you;
you will never forsake those who seek you.
Sing psalms to the Lord who dwells in Zion.
Proclaim his mighty works among the peoples,
for the Avenger of blood has remembered them,
has not forgotten the cry of the poor.
Gospel Matthew 17:14-20
If your faith were the size of a mustard seed, the mountain would move
A man came up to Jesus and went down on his knees before him. ‘Lord,’ he said ‘take pity on my son: he is a lunatic and in a wretched state; he is always falling into the fire or into the water. I took him to your disciples and they were unable to cure him.’ ‘Faithless and perverse generation!’ Jesus said in reply ‘How much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.’ And when Jesus rebuked it the devil came out of the boy who was cured from that moment.
Then the disciples came privately to Jesus. ‘Why were we unable to cast it out?’ they asked. He answered, ‘Because you have little faith. I tell you solemnly, if your faith were the size of a mustard seed you could say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it would move; nothing would be impossible for you.’
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Mustard seed faith
In the Gospel, a desperate father brings his sick son to be healed. The disciples try to help but could not. When the father asks Jesus for help, Jesus heals the boy and returns him to his father. When the disciples asked Jesus why they could not heal the boy, He points out their “little faith.” He then tells them that faith as small as a mustard seed could move mountains. The key lies not in the size of the faith, but in the attitude of trust that prays, surrenders, persists and keeps hoping.
The power of faith is about saying with trust, “God, I can’t, but You can,” and then taking the next small, obedient step while leaving the outcome in His hands. Today, let us ask for the grace of having this active trust, choosing to hope when nothing seems to change.
Reflective question:
How can I actively choose to trust in God when I am faced with difficulties or uncertainties?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year A” by Sr Maria Jose FMVD
