Increase Our Faith

Gospel: Luke 17: 5-10

The disciples come to Jesus and ask him to increase their faith.  Like many things people say to Jesus, it is ignored or used as an opportunity to say something else.  Here, Jesus does talk about an increase in faith, but not in the way the disciples wanted.  He first states that if you had even a modicum of faith you could do great things, but you do not.  He then states that the person of faith is like a servant who merely does their duty without seeking any reward or accolades.  

The disciples are wanting the reward without doing any of the work.  They want the baby Jesus magic to just give them a strong faith, much like an unfit person wanting a well-toned body without hitting the gym.  Faith is like any virtue.  It is acquired through habit, through trial and error, through a long process of working at it.  We cannot expect to have faith or any other virtue present within us without working at it day in and day out.

Jesus came into this world as an ordinary human being who over time lived an extraordinary human life.  That is the normal course of things for every human being who seeks to live a life of great faith.  There are no short cuts, no placebos.  We are merely servants of the Lord here to do our daily duties in faith, not seeking reward or exception.  If we ask for an increase in faith, we must then kneel down to wash the feet of others as the Lord Jesus himself had done.