READY, STEADY, GO ............. DON’T LOOK BACK

Man has to stop, to think ... and, decide. But, once he has decided, there’s no looking back. When his hand is on the plough, he has to keep looking foreward, ahead. He will regret it, if he falls to temptation and looks back. We all know what happened to Lot’s wife!

Believing is not simply an exercise  of the mind. It is a serious, definite choice. Man is declaring his conviction, during his lifetime,  of his unconditional trust in the Person of Christ. Yes, man’s journey when he is following Christ, as his Master, at times might be fast, at other times it slackens in speed. He might even get tired, slow down and stop. Things being so, it is easy to realize that faith can grow or diminish.

Now we realise why Abraham is called ‘The father of Faith, of believers’. He did pray much, and as such he is the model of the man who prays. If we look up Genesis we find that Abraham was in constant dialogue with God. No wonder his great Faith in God and his acceptance of God’s Will. That is what is meant when we say we have to let go. Even though events in our life are incomprehensible, for HE knows best.

Certainly in these moments there is a cry, a lament coming out of our heart and soul: ‘But why, how Lord?’ That is why during daily Mass we implore: ‘Lord hear us, Lord graciously hear us.’ AND, the Lord is never deaf, HE always hears us, but … HE refers to His Divine Plan for us, and then, in His own good time, gives us an answer. Our eyes open and give praise and thanks to the Lord. THAT is saving FAITH.

In this 27^th Sunday Gospel Text, Jesus gives to His Apostles a popular image. If you have a little Faith, just a grain of mustard, you can uproot the tree (according to Matthew and Mark, a mountain). Probably if it was a reference to the sycamore tree whose roots can withstand up to six hundred years, and so makes it so difficult to uproot.   But Marks tells us: “Everything is possible for one who believes”  (9:23).

Christ is referring to miracles which no branch of science can explain, but they completely transform us, our outlook on life in general and on the problems facing us. When we really trust the Word of God, of the Gospel, and put it into practice, the impossible becomes possible, the unreachable becomes reachable, the invisible becomes visible.