#164b (12pm)
#164c (5pm)
At the very beginning of today’s Gospel, he heard proclaimed something that we modern people understandably say. We hear how the Apostles asked Jesus, “Lord, increase our faith.” It’s a sincere request.
And so Jesus in response tells the parable story of the unprofitable servant. Now imagine this: A worker wakes up at 4am, goes to work, and comes home at 11pm at night. That’s a 19-hour day. But after coming home dead-tired and ready to go to sleep to work the next day, the boss calls this hard-working servant, “Come here and make me some dinner.”
Jesus of course is not saying do abusive work relations, if that’s what we think then we are missing the point. Wisdom, let us be attentive! Rather, Jesus is teaching us how this hard worker represents our faith in God. Let those who have ears, listen! In order to grow our faith, we have to work hard ourselves to increase our faith. We have to constantly exercise faith in God, to form a habit of faith. We have to, like this unprofitable servant who worked 19 hours and then some, begin our belief in God from the very beginning to the very end of our spiritual lives.
The Dominican theologian Fr. Garagou-Lagrange, says, “If we are not progressing forward in our spiritual life, we are actually going backwards.” Ask ourselves right now in our deepest conscience and in our hearts, “Have I honestly progressed forward in my faith?” “Have I moved beyond the minimum?” If no, then we know what to do. If we said yes, we are actually not done! And here’s why: While faith is a gift and requires our best human effort, while Faith is a free divine grace, but faith requires constant practice. It’s not enough to say, “Well, I’m done with Confirmation, I graduated, (which is a silly statement btw), or I’ve been baptized and go to Mass…sometimes…or “I’ve been saved”.
Rather, just like the unprofitable servant who works the whole day and night and more yet still says, “I am a useless worker.” So too after spending all our efforts to believe in God, we too should say, “I am not done with increasing my Faith.”
The unprofitable servant does not say, “Ahhh, what a good worker I am.” So too with our faith, we cannot say, “Ahhh, I’m a good person, I don’t kill, I do this or that, I’m spiritual, I’m not religious or dogmatic. I’m such a good person and don’t need to go to Confession. I don’t kill, so I’m going to heaven.” On the contrary, the person of faith says, “My faith constantly needs to increase.” The unprofitable servant says, “The POWER of the name of Jesus is more powerful than any evil in my life.” The unprofitable servant says, “Sunday Mass and Holy Days of Obligation are just the bare minimum. Confession at least once a year is just the bare minimum. Loving God and neighbor and the less fortunate are just the bare minimum. Even the Seven Sacraments of the Church are just the bare minimum.” The person of faith says, “My faith needs constant growth. I am doing only what I am supposed to be doing. It is my duty to do this minimum thing anyways.” A person of faith goes beyond these minimum requirements of what you’re being asked to do to increase your faith.
Finally, here are some practical, centuries-tested, saint-making, beyond-the- minimum ways to increase our faith. First, there is difference between a Sacrament and a sacramental. A sacrament was divinely instituted by Christ. But a sacramental was instituted or approved by His Church. While a sacrament is required as the bare-bones minimum, a sacramental while not strictly-speaking required but highly recommended to grow in holiness. For example, after the Mass and the Sacraments, the holy rosary is a powerful sacramental. This month of October is the month of the rosary. It is also Respect Life Month, where we honor the new poor, the new orphans, those in the womb that do not have anyone to speak for them except us. “It’s not enough to say, ‘I don’t kill’ Well that’s great, but let’s go beyond that and protect life. Another sacramental is Holy Water. I would encourage us to have Holy Water at home and use it. Another sacramental is the brown scapular. A scapular goes around the shoulders and is meant to show that someone is consecrated to Mary. The Miraculous Medal is another powerful sacramental and has a record of bringing about conversions, healings and even miracles.
In closing, we have heard in the Word of God how our Faith is represented the Parable of the Unprofitable Servant who, “I am a useless servant. I have done only what I was obliged to do.” May our faith, too, go beyond the bare minimum crawling so that we can run and fly in the heights of sanctity. As St. Paul in his Second Letter to Timothy in today’s Second Reading wrote, “For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self control, so do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord.”
