November 11, 2024

Luke 17:1-6

Today Jesus teaches, “Things that cause sin will inevitably occur, but woe to the one through whom they occur.”  Jesus is saying that we each have a responsibility to others – to not cause them to sin, to talk to them if they are doing something wrong, and also to forgive them over and over again if they are sorry.  We cannot say that, oh well, that is the other person’s doing, so be it.  We are all responsible for one another. 

The Apostles ask Jesus to increase their faith.  Jesus replies, “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.”  Faith the size of a mustard seed is like a tiny point of bright light, but looking directly into that light, it is the portal between the ordinary world as we think of it, and it is neither large nor small.  That portal leads into the transformative world of the divine.  Nothing is too difficult for God, that is the meaning. Dwell on the mystery of the tiny mustard seed of faith, gaze at the bright transforming energy of the portal to the divine.  That is so.

Personal: Relax with the whirlwind.  Let it sweep you into new seas.  But keep your eyes open and don’t drown.  We are taking care of our little sheep.  Go now. Amen.