Luke 17:1-10
Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come! It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble. Be on your guard! If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, “I repent”, you must forgive.’
The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’ The Lord replied, ‘If you had faith the size of a[c] mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea”, and it would obey you.
‘Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from ploughing or tending sheep in the field, “Come here at once and take your place at the table”? Would you not rather say to him, “Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink”? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, “We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!”’
In the passage for today, we hear sayings of Jesus to his disciples about what it might mean to follow him. There may be a common thread among them of humility.
In the first saying, we hear about the requirement of forgiveness. By forgiving, we nurture the humility to accept that others and ourselves can get it wrong but that doesn't completely identify who we are. In the second saying, we hear about the desire for greater faith. This passage echoes the "mountain into the sea" passage, which symbolically is about no longer needing the temple system. Here again, there is a humility of asking for more faith and some of the consequences of that. Finally, in the last saying, we hear about the humility of following Jesus likened to a slave that listens and does, without seeking any reward "save that of knowing that we do your will," as St Ignatius prayed.
May we cultivate the humility that emboldens our discipleship. May we be quick to forgive; may we be desirous for greater faith; and may we do and live as Christ calls us without hesitation.