Introduction
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts. (Responsorial Psalm 95)
Psalm 95 is a call to the people of Israel and to us, His Church, to come sing praises to God and to bow down in worship before Him, for He is the Rock of our salvation, our Maker, and our Good Shepherd, who guides us on our journey through this often confusing, dangerous and harmful world. And yet, the Psalm contains a warning, echoed in our response, to not harden our hearts to God’s call. We must remain open to His call and answer it, regardless of our circumstances. We must continue to recognize that God is worthy of our praises and worship. He is our main good in this world and our hope and destination in the next.
First Reading: Habakkuk 1:2–3, 2:2–4
How long, O LORD? I cry for help but you do not listen! I cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not intervene. Why do you let me see ruin; why must I look at misery? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and clamorous discord.
Then the LORD answered me and said: Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets, so that one can read it readily. For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint; if it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late. The rash one has no integrity; but the just one, because of his faith, shall live.
The just one who lives by his faith remains steady and patient in the midst of the malignant, destructive and violent chaos of this world. It certainly should make us cry out to God for resolution and deliverance, and that is the correct thing to do. Habakkuk is providing a good example for us to follow, indicating to us what our response should be. Habakkuk cries out to God, then waits for God’s answer, because God is the only one big enough to handle our situations. Crying out to Him should be our first response; He will guide us on what to do, and He will ultimately act, although not always in our preferred timeframe.
God will teach us patience and justice and will give us wisdom and courage in our situations, so that we will handle them with Him and in accordance with His will and character.
The rash ones take matters into their own hands, according to their fallen nature and flesh, and they make things worse for themselves and others by doing so.
Habakkuk did not harden his heart, but kept it open to God. We need to do that also, by following his example.
Second Reading: 2 Timothy 1:6–8, 13–14
Beloved: I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands. 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, nor of me, a prisoner for his sake; but bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God.
Take as your norm the sound words that you heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard this rich trust with the help of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us.
The Apostle Paul had ordained Timothy as bishop over Ephesus (1 Timothy 1:3, 2 Timothy 1:6) in order to appoint and ordain elders and deacons for the churches there and to govern the faithful and to guard the deposit of the faith entrusted to him by the Apostle Paul. He was relatively young for his role and some looked down on him and questioned his appointed leadership role as a result (1 Timothy 4:12). Timothy was experiencing the normal oppositions one encounters as a leader, due to the fact that churches are hospitals for sinners, staffed by sinners, with a few enemy agents sown in by Satan for good measure.
Timothy was evidently becoming somewhat cowed by the opposition. He seemed to have a tendency that way, and the Apostle Paul had to encourage and exhort him to faith, boldness and duty at several points in his letters to Timothy, as our Second Reading indicates.
Timothy needed to “harden not his heart” in fear, but rather to answer and fulfill God’s call for him. We need to do the same. We have been anointed at our baptisms and confirmations as prophets, priests and kings, in the royal priesthood of all believers.
897 The term “laity” is here understood to mean all the faithful except those in Holy Orders and those who belong to a religious state approved by the Church. That is, the faithful, who by Baptism are incorporated into Christ and integrated into the People of God, are made sharers in their particular way in the priestly, prophetic, and kingly office of Christ, and have their own part to play in the mission of the whole Christian people in the Church and in the world. (Catechism of the Catholic Church)
Gospel: 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.’”
Even the apostles felt like they needed more faith to answer their call as servants of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, so they asked Jesus for it. His reply is telling. If we want to increase our faith, then we need to answer and fulfill our calling by diligent, obedient, and faithful service to God and others. That is where we will find the greater faith we need, by exercising it.
But where do we begin? I think the words, often attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi, apply here: “Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”
This saying is painted over one of the doorways in my parish church. I have found it to be true.
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