Hab. 1:2-3; 2:2-4; Ps. 95: 1-2, 6-9; 2 Tim. 1:6-8, 13-14; Lk. 17:5-10

The apostles say to Jesus, “increase our faith” and St. Paul says, “…stir into flame the gift of God…For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control”.  The mystery of faith is this gift of God, Jesus himself active in our lives.  When the apostles say “Increase our faith”, Jesus begins with “If you have the faith the size of a mustard seed you would say…and it would obey you”.  He gives his parable as an example and concludes his answer with “When you have done all you have been commanded say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.”  The power of faith in action is not waiting for Jesus to “show up” it is taking the next right step of faith and trusting him to part the waters of the Red Sea as we go forth.  The warning of today carries over from last week “woe to the complacent” who do only what they are obliged to do. 

First let us look at the dangers of complacency.  It begins with the approach to faith called minimalism.  I am a good person and I pray I don’t feel I have to go to church to be with God.  This doesn’t even comply with doing what we are obliged to do.  Even Jesus went to the synagogue as required by the Jewish law.  Others may say I am a good Christian, I ready my bible, I pray, I go to church and give a donation…BUT I don’t believe in all that sacrament stuff…the real presence of God in the host, confession to a priest that is just a little too much.  The sacraments were instituted by Jesus so if we don’t believe in them then we don’t believe in the one who gave them to us. 

Secondly doing only what we are obliged to do is seen in the “good” Catholic who is very proud in compliance with all church law but their hearts are far from the real presence of God.  They may quote scripture and Canon law but mercy and love are alien to their hearts.  Today we are reminded “good enough in not good enough”, meeting God half-way is non-negotiable.  God desires the best of us, the best he created us to be.  Today that may not be much because we are limited by our weakness and our sins yet we had the courage to take the first step of faith and also seek God’s mercy and love.  Be prepared to be surprised that what we feared in our weakness we were able to overcome by faith trusting Jesus whose power we are given. 

Finally, looking at the power of faith the Lord says “the just one, because of his faith, shall live”.  The just don’t have a spirit of “cowardice” but a “flame of power, and love and self-control”.  I offer these “Seven Spiritual Tips to Holiness”. 

Tip #1: Offer it up!  Beginning with the morning rise offer “it” your day, work, challenges, joys or sorrows.  God knows what you are going to face by divine providence so offer it up for his glory and your greater good.

Tip #2: Exercise it!  “It” is the virtue needed to build spiritual muscle.  Be prepared for God to provide you the opportunity to exercise it.  I often prayed for the virtue of patience and found my patience tested so much I looked for another virtue to work on.  Spiritual exercises like physical conditioning requires repetition to gain the power of spiritual muscle as warriors for Christ.  Exercise it!

Tip #3: Abstain from it!  This is self-control, to say “no” to self when we want to say “yes”.  No, I won’t talk back to my parents; and parents “I won’t check my smart phone every moment I’m bored.  Phones are as addictive to adults as to youth but it is one of many temptations we need to overcome.  Pleasure is not the end game; we don’t live for pleasure we live for the greater good.  Abstaining is a means of cleansing our souls, gaining purity, and opening ourselves up to God. 

Tip #4:  Confess it!  No excuses needed.  Acknowledge the wrong on your end regardless of any fault by the other.  If we need an excuse there is underlying guilt.  Confess it immediately in your conscience.  Follow it up in the sacrament of confession the next opportunity.  When we don’t confess it, we carry it with us as a thorn of venial sin or nail of mortal sin.  Healing comes through confession. 

Tip #5:  Proclaim it!  If you proclaim it you own it.  What we believe is a gift of light, be the light with the power to proclaim it.  From the head to the voice it feeds the heart for greater power and love and self-control.  Mass is a participatory celebration and we are all called to proclaim it by lifting our voice in prayer and song.  “If today you hear his voice” proclaim it and his love will pour into us. 

Tip #6: Awaken it!  “It” is the slumber of complacency that says “good enough”.  “I am a good enough Catholic, parent, son or daughter”.  God desires it all, your heart, love and might, no compromise.  Jesus came and radicalized our practice of faith for a more perfect love.  The norms of society then and now are self-centered, God is other.  Awaken to the other present in our life. 

Tip #7:  Embrace it!  “It” is the cross of love.  Embrace the gift of life, all we are and all we are created to be in God’s image is life giving.  We live this gift for a short time on earth compared to eternity.  It is not easy to embrace our suffering.  If we just fear it, we may never free ourselves from it.  It too can be transformative in our faith for greater power, love and self-control to be set free from it.  The miracle of faith is active love, rejoice and embrace it. 

Maximillian Kolbe in prayer asked the Blessed Mother “what was to become of me, a Child of Faith.  Then she came to me holding two crowns, one white, the other red.  She asked me if I was willing to accept either of these crowns.  The white one meant that I should persevere in purity, and the red that I should become a martyr.  I said that I would accept them both.”  Dying to oneself is the daily red robe of sacrifice and the “Seven Spiritual Tips to Holiness” is the daily washing of our white baptismal robes of purity.  Let us embrace all that God offer us this day and go forth with the faith of a mustard seed.