27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

http://usccb.org/bible/readings/100613.cfm

Quick recap:
1st reading - Habakkuk - a plea to God
Psalm 95 - If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Epistle - 2 Timothy - just do it! as in holy boldness
Gospel - Luke 17 - the apostles ask Jesus to increase their faith.  His response - if you have faith the size of a mustard seed . . .

The reflections in Living Liturgy for this week focus on faith.  It said that we must remember that, "faith is more a verb than a noun."  I like this concept.  I used to think of faith in terms of nouns.  Don't laugh.  Consider it this way:  to me, faith has been a thing (remember, a noun is a person, place, thing, or idea - thank you Miss Nase) that just existed.  It didn't move (verb), it didn't grow (verb).  I thought of it in passive terms.  The reality is, faith isn't a book on the shelf that we pull down once a week for church.  It grows with us, just as we grow from a baby to a child, to an adult.  Or, it should grow with us.  That's the other bit about faith - if we don't use it, it remains a bump on a log.  Without our full, conscious, and active participation, faith remains a noun.  It is simply 'there'.  You could even liken it to a healthy lifestyle.  If you don't move, you can't improve.  Mentally willing pounds away doesn't actually make it happen.  You need a lot of verbs in action - exercise, move, dance, jump, sweat, lift, run, walk, bike, etc. - as a part of your healthy lifestyle.  So it is with faith.  You don't wake up one day and announce to the world that you have arrived at the place of spiritual enlightenment and need travel no further.  Because if you get to that point, you're probably dead.

Another a-ha moment for me:  the idea that faith is expressed in the everyday pieces of life.  Yes, there can be amazing God-moments and times of wonderment and spiritual fulfillment, but the stable foundation for faith is built in the simple, everyday tasks.  When we go about our day with love, we express faith.  In the little things, we can show great faith.  The same with health.  It may not seem like a big deal to add a sweet treat into your day or skip a workout, but in the big picture, you get a momentary pleasure (likely followed by guilt) and a setback.  It is hard to be faithful, both to health and faith itself.  Struggle is to be expected; temptation is all around.  But, if we are honest, we know it is the right thing to do, whether for health or our faith.  As stated in Living Liturgy,

"The faithful disciple of Jesus is never finished serving.  The faith of a disciple is never finished increasing."       

Challenge - pick an everyday task that you do and do it with love.  Do that task to the absolute best of your ability.  Express your delight for God's gift of faith through this action.  Bonus challenge - add a healthy activity to your schedule and be faithful to it this week.

Prayer - Lord, You tell us that faith the size of a mustard seed can do amazing things.  I want to have that faith.  Grant me the desire to increase my faith and to be faithful to You.