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The apostles
said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.…”
I think we should
take heart in this verse from the gospel of Luke because, after all,
we’re not reading about generic “disciples” or nameless and faceless
“followers” who are asking the Lord to increase their faith. No, it’s
the big boys, the grown ups, the Twelve big guns themselves who are
asking the Lord to increase their faith! That’s akin to the 13
residential U.S. Cardinals saying to the Pope, “Hey, Benedict, increase
our faith.”
Quite likely, many
of us have felt at one time or another in our lives that we’ve come up
short when it comes to “having faith,” that tiny and miniscule mustard
seed God placed into our souls when God brought each of us into being.
But, when we’re looking for shade amidst the heat of life’s trials and
tests, the mustard tree isn’t there for us, not of it’s own doing, of
course, but because we haven’t nurtured the tiny, miniscule mustard seed
with the water, fertilizer, and environment it needed to blossom into
that mighty and awesome, majestic tree that would provide the cooling
shade we so much desire when life’s events seem to be conspiring against
us.
It’s so very easy to
descry the lack of moral, spiritual, and religious faith and, yes, there
is quite a lack of it in our culture today. It’s not that many of us
and many of our fellow citizens don’t have faith. No, the case is that
many of us place our faith in things that have so little to do or
absolutely nothing to do with moral, spiritual, religious faith.
Then, when we’re tested—and I mean really put to the test—there’s
nothing there to provide for our deepest moral, spiritual, and religious
hunger. We’re all too willing to place our faith in consumer goods,
believing that all of these things will give us true happiness. We’re
all too willing to place our faith in material things, believing that
the good feelings these give us are what make us truly happy. And,
we’re all too willing to place our faith in secular things, believing
that the pleasures afforded when we absent God from our lives are what
will make us truly happy. Consumerism, materialism, and secularism are
what characterize much of what’s called “faith” today, Pope John Paul
warned us more than two decades ago. But, when these things don’t
provide the true happiness for which our souls hunger—and they never
do—we find ourselves extremely unhappy because we experience ourselves
and our lives being pretty much like mausoleums, that is, beautiful on
the outside but devoid of any soul on the inside.
That is precisely
the position in which the apostles found themselves in today’s gospel.
The big boys, the grown ups, the Twelve big guns themselves have
suddenly discovered that everything into which they placed their faith
had come up short. Their souls were hungering for something more
substantial, something more permanent…something of God himself. And, as
Jesus life and teaching led each apostle to look into his own soul, he
found nothing there.
In our emptiness and
desperation, like the apostles, we say, “Increase our faith.…”
Like a tiny mustard
seed, God has breathed into our souls the precious gift of faith. It’s
there not to lie fallow and to rot but to be nourished so that it will
germinate, sprout, and grow strong so that our faith will provide the
strength, fortitude, and courage we will need when we are tested as
life’s events conspire against us. What we oftentimes don’t contemplate
enough, however, is that faith needs to be nourished, fertilized, and
provided a proper environment. That happens not with “magic sprinkles”
dropping like manna from heaven but as we live out our faith. And, as
we live it out, we inspire others to nourish, to fertilize, and to
provide a proper environment for their faith to grow as they live out
their faith also.
A couple of weeks
back, I concelebrated the funeral of my brother-in-law’s cousin,
Maureen. She had died of cancer just seventy three days after her
physician diagnosed the disease. The cancer was very painful and so was
Maureen’s death. Thanks be to God, the ordeal lasted only two and
one-half months.
I last talked with
Maureen following the funeral of my brother-in-law’s father in
February. Maureen appeared to be at the top of her form. But, then,
just a short few months later, there I was concelebrating Maureen’s
funeral. As funerals go, this was a truly remarkable funeral. First,
there were about twenty priests concelebrating. Second, the church was
filled with mourners. Third, at the opening of the funeral mass,
Maureen’s daughter, Christine, gave a beautiful welcoming address. No
tears and no sadness, just a smile beaming from the bottom of
Christine’s heart. Fourth, Maureen’s son, Stephen, proclaimed the first
reading from the Book of Lamentations. The virtue of hope—not the
sadness of lament—resounded in Stephen’s voice, much like the sound of a
clarion trumpet in the quiet of night. Fifth, following the funeral
mass but before the cortege departed the church for the cemetery, I
asked Maureen’s husband, “How are you doing, Bill?” With a wry smile on
his face and the trademark twinkle in his eyes, Bill looked me square in
the eyes and said, “Wasn’t this great? What a beautiful liturgy! I
love my faith! The only thing that would have made it perfect was if
the mass had been in Latin.”
Faith—given by God
in the size of a small and miniscule mustard seed—is nourished,
fertilized, and provided a proper environment by the way we live our
lives. Faith—mature and strong in the size of a mustard tree—doesn’t
appear suddenly and out of the blue at a funeral. No, faith the size of
a mustard tree emerges as that seed germinates and sprouts as we give of
ourselves to others in their need.
Maureen’s funeral
didn’t just happen. No, Maureen was a devoted wife, mother, religion
teacher, and retreat director in Archdiocesan high schools for forty
years, the last twenty five at Monsignor Bonner High School. “Mrs. E,”
as her students called her, lived out her faith, taught her faith, and
shared her faith day in and day out, week in and week out, month in and
month out, semester in and semester out, year in and year out, as well
as decade in and decade out. And, because she did so, Maureen
nourished, fertilized, and provided a proper environment in which her
faith grew and transformed her into what she knew God had called her
personally to become: a Christian and Catholic wife, mother, and
catechist-educator.
Why were there
twenty concelebrating priests at Maureen’s funeral? Well, it could have
been that Maureen’s faith touched the lives of many of the Augustinian
priests who served alongside Maureen at Bonner for the past twenty five
years, some of whom were her students. That, in itself, would have been
remarkable. But, at least seven of those concelebrants were diocesan
priests, some of whom were Maureen’s former students, whose mustard seed
of faith was challenged during their formative years in a high school
religion class or retreat to consider a life of service on behalf of
God’s people. Isn’t that remarkable? Those mustard seeds have now
germinated, sprouted, and grown into priests who now serve God’s people
in their moral, spiritual, and religious need.
Why was the church
filled? Well, as is normal and to be expected, present in the
congregation were family members, relatives, friends, and neighbors.
But, what was unusual and unexpected is what filled the empty
seats. No, not current Bonner students—they were in the choir singing
for the funeral mass—but her former students, “Mrs. E’s” graduates.
Evidently, Maureen’s faith—as she expressed it in a theology class or on
a retreat—challenged those young adolescents during their formative
years in high school so much so that they took an afternoon off from
work to celebrate the mustard seed of faith Maureen had nurtured,
fertilized, and provided a proper environment within which to grow.
Isn’t that remarkable? Those mustard seeds have germinated, sprouted,
and grown into Catholic adults whose faith impelled them to celebrate a
woman who gave selflessly of herself for their moral, spiritual, and
religious benefit.
Then, too, Maureen’s
faith had a profound influence upon her two children, Christine and
Stephen. Christine, who so beautifully welcomed the congregation at her
mother’s funeral, is Director of Campus Ministry at Gwenydd-Mercy
College. Stephen, who read so meaningfully from the Book of
Lamentations, is a Jesuit Volunteer in Baltimore, MD. I don’t consider
it a matter of luck that Maureen’s two children have chosen to witness
to their faith by offering their lives in service of God’s people. No,
I think their mother’s witness to her faith—as wife, mother, teacher,
and retreat director—taught Christine and Stephen what constitutes a
truly happy life. Each has chosen to follow a path similar to their
mother’s path. Isn’t that remarkable? Those mustard seeds have
germinated, sprouted, and grown into a young woman and man who lead
faith-filled lives, giving selflessly of themselves to others in their
need moral, spiritual, and religious need.
And, lastly, there’s
Maureen’s husband, Bill. Their shared faith—the animating heart of
their marriage—is what united them. Knowing both as I do, that didn’t
mean Maureen and Bill agreed on everything or, perhaps, on many things.
But, that didn’t matter because the faith that united Maureen and Bill
as husband and wife melted what could have been “big things” that divide
many marriages into “little things” that pale by comparison. Faith
transformed Maureen and Bill into what the Jesuits call themselves,
“companions in Christ.” Imagine watching your spouse die over the
course of two and one half months from a painful form of debilitating
cancer. Imagine the feelings of powerlessness events like these
engender. Yet, imagine being able to celebrate how richly blessed one
has been to the point that one is grateful for the gift of faith rather
than grieving for the loss of a beloved. Isn’t that truly remarkable?
Praying for stronger
faith when events in our lives seem to be conspiring against us is a
good thing, don’t get me wrong. But, faith is nurtured, fertilized, and
provided a proper environment within which to grow but as we give of
ourselves to others. Faith has its origins in a small and miniscule
mustard seed. But, faith the size of a mustard tree gradually emerges
over time as that seed germinates and sprouts through selfless
self-giving for others in their need. Yes, faith will be tested by the
trials and difficulties of life, let there be not doubt about it. But,
it grows as we serve others—strangers as well s family members and
friends—by caring for their moral, spiritual, and religious needs.
That is the spiritual lesson about which there should also be no doubt!
Ultimately, faith
the size of a mustard tree begins with a gift—the mustard seed of faith
that God has planted in our souls—but grows as we make of our lives a
gift to others. Anything short of that is human kindness but not
supernatural charity. Only supernatural charity has the power to
transform faith the size of a mustard seed into a mustard tree that is
firmly rooted in love of God and neighbor. This is what the apostles
learned from Jesus and what Maureen Eberle’s husband, children, and
students learned from her.
Hopefully, it is
what others will learn from us, too.
A brief
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