27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Here we are, the beginning of October, the beginning of fall, and some even say, the beginning of the holiday season. As we transition into a new time of the year full of pumpkins, sweaters, and hayrides, it can be tempting to want to leave behind our crosses in the summer season and “start anew”. Our God who created the seasons and created new beginnings wants to give us this renewed spirit we long for, but we can’t start anew without reconciling with the ruins of the past.
In the first reading for Sunday, the prophet Habakkuk cries out to the Lord in confusion and anguish, “Why do you let me see ruin? Why must I look at misery?” These are questions that we often share with Habakkuk, either in the context of the world or our own personal lives. They are also the questions we ignore sometimes thinking that maybe if we don’t look at the misery then eventually it will just fix itself. We foolishly hope that time will heal all wounds, but as Christians, we know that that’s simply not true. God heals all wounds, and often, he takes His time. But for God to heal our wounds and make us new, we need to look upon the misery and ask Him these questions. Just as Habakkuk had to see the misery to bring God to the Chaldeans, we need to see our misery to bring God into our lives. We need to know exactly where in our heart we want to invite God into and then have the faith of the prophets that He will heal according to His perfect timing, not according to our timing or the timing of the seasons.
In Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus preaches this same message of faith. He tells his disciples, “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.” If our faith has the power to move trees, do you not think it also has the power to make us anew? St. Peter reminds us in the second reading that we have a spirit of power, and this spirit is the Holy Spirit that dwells within us. God dwells within us, and we need to start using the power that He has given us. The time for being mediocre, fearful, and faithless is over. If we want to choose something to leave behind in summer, it is not our crosses, it is our cowardice. Right now, not winter, not Thanksgiving, not next week, not even tomorrow, but right now is our chance to be renewed in our faith. Ask for the faith of a mustard seed and you will receive. Ask God for a renewed spirit and you will receive.