14 When they came to the crowd a man approached, knelt down before him, 15 and said, “Lord, have pity on my son, for he is a lunatic and suffers severely; often he falls into fire, and often into water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.” 17 Jesus said in reply, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Bring him here to me.” 18 Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him, and from that hour the boy was cured. 19 Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” 20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matt 17:14-20)
STRONGER, WITH FAITH
Once, I was addressing the graduating students of our grade school and kindergarten. I told them that that important moment is the time for building, that they did not have to wait for Junior High School, Senior High School or College. If they would do well, it would be because of what they have learned well today—yes, in your grade School—and even in kindergarten.
In 1986, there was a book published by Robert Fulghum: All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. The author wrote, “These are the things I learned: Share everything. Play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don't take things that aren't yours. Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Flush…. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that. Goldfish and hamster and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup—they all die. So do we. And then remember… the first word you learned—the biggest word of all—look.”
I told the children that much of what their life would be built upon these. And to all these we add another word: pray. Here they have learned to deepen their faith. I added: “In the future, when you would be adults, this is one of the thing you would go back over and over again: the times when you sat with your Mom and Dad in bed and you recited your prayers before you sleep… the time when in assembly we opened our prayer books and called on Jesus and Mary… the times you visited Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. This experience of faith is what will make you stronger.” Their little faith, the size of the mustard seed, will make them move mountains.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
1. Was there a time in my life when I felt that I had little or no faith?
2. How do I strengthen my faith?
Lord, make me believe in you more and more.
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