εὐαγγελίζω (euaggelizo)
“to announce the Good News of victory in battle”
“to announce the Good News of victory in battle”
“And the apostles said to the Lord,
“Increase our faith (πίστιν, pístin).””
“Increase our faith (πίστιν, pístin).””
θεωρέω (theoreo)
(“to perceive, discover, ponder a deeper meaning”)
(“to perceive, discover, ponder a deeper meaning”)
Jesus’ catechesis these past few Sundays have addressed proper actions of a disciple. Care for the poor, proper use of wealth and possessions, forgiveness and radical commitment are but a sampling of essential works that express a life grounded in the Person, Jesus. His words this Sunday continue the lessons of discipleship with a direction that is a bit more interiorly focused on faith.
“And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase (πρόσθες, prósthes) our faith (πίστιν, pístin).”” (Luke 17:5) The apostles make a noble request, “Increase our faith.” What disciple would not want more faith? But Jesus appears to sidestep their request and implies that more faith is not necessary, “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.”” (Luke 17:6) Jesus’ response, as presented by St. Luke, silences the apostles and no further question or rebuttal is offered. The apostles and perhaps present-day disciples may be disappointed unless there is something more to consider.
In His humanity, Jesus lives a deeply devout Jewish life, steeped solidly in the Torah and Temple, expressed in the daily chanting of the Psalms. Faith is no stranger in the Psalms as this essential of Covenant living abounds throughout the 150 prayerful hymns. Within the rich theology of the Psalms, for many though, ‘faith’ is a vague dimension of living with Jesus. On one hand, many say that faith has something to do with mystery and not being able to understand various elements of Christian teaching. On the other hand, some might echo a catechism definition: “Faith is first of all a personal adherence of man to God. At the same time, and inseparably, it is a free assent to the whole truth that God has revealed. As personal adherence to God and assent to his truth, Christian faith differs from our faith in any human person. It is right and just to entrust oneself wholly to God and to believe absolutely what he says. It would be futile and false to place such faith in a creature (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 150).” Yet when faced with ‘unpacking’ the definition, a good number remain perplexed.
Living in a Jewish milieu of the first century, Jesus’ followers would certainly have known the necessity of faith in terms of Covenant living. אָמַן (aman) is one of the rich Hebrew words that translates the Greek πίστις (pístis) into English as faith. Grounded in the experience of motherhood, אָמַן (aman) expresses ‘a connection between persons, originally a mother and child, that provides for all the essentials of life (especially food) so that one may be ‘built up’ and grow strong while connected to the other.’ The child comes to know her or his mother as the source of life and trusts that she will give all that is vital for living and growing. For the Israelites, this tender imagery expressed the relationship between God and themselves.
The connection or relationship had another dimension: bonding or adherence. For the one who receives life’s necessities from his or her mother, explicit in that experience is that one receives from no one else. Dependent as one is on a mother, that dependency forms exclusivity. One does not take while looking around at the same time for a ‘better’ or ‘tastier offer.’ No matter how good something looks, no matter how pleasing something sounds, אָמַן (aman) fosters the life connection to one and only one. This is the lesson of the Garden. So long as humanity listened to the Creator and only the Creator, life flourished. When humanity opened the door to dialogue with another, the fundamental relationship of life was dealt a severe blow to human nature.
It is no wonder then that Jesus calls forth אָמַן (aman) in the people He meets and continues to meet. All of humanity’s ills then and now are rooted in a divided existence that seeks a false autonomy that makes idols of everything thus enslaving our lives in and to sin. אָמַן (aman) – the connection of life to and with Jesus offers true freedom and health of body, mind and soul that each may live in peace.
“And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase (πρόσθες, prósthes) our faith (πίστιν, pístin).”” (Luke 17:5) The apostles make a noble request, “Increase our faith.” What disciple would not want more faith? But Jesus appears to sidestep their request and implies that more faith is not necessary, “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.”” (Luke 17:6) Jesus’ response, as presented by St. Luke, silences the apostles and no further question or rebuttal is offered. The apostles and perhaps present-day disciples may be disappointed unless there is something more to consider.
In His humanity, Jesus lives a deeply devout Jewish life, steeped solidly in the Torah and Temple, expressed in the daily chanting of the Psalms. Faith is no stranger in the Psalms as this essential of Covenant living abounds throughout the 150 prayerful hymns. Within the rich theology of the Psalms, for many though, ‘faith’ is a vague dimension of living with Jesus. On one hand, many say that faith has something to do with mystery and not being able to understand various elements of Christian teaching. On the other hand, some might echo a catechism definition: “Faith is first of all a personal adherence of man to God. At the same time, and inseparably, it is a free assent to the whole truth that God has revealed. As personal adherence to God and assent to his truth, Christian faith differs from our faith in any human person. It is right and just to entrust oneself wholly to God and to believe absolutely what he says. It would be futile and false to place such faith in a creature (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 150).” Yet when faced with ‘unpacking’ the definition, a good number remain perplexed.
Living in a Jewish milieu of the first century, Jesus’ followers would certainly have known the necessity of faith in terms of Covenant living. אָמַן (aman) is one of the rich Hebrew words that translates the Greek πίστις (pístis) into English as faith. Grounded in the experience of motherhood, אָמַן (aman) expresses ‘a connection between persons, originally a mother and child, that provides for all the essentials of life (especially food) so that one may be ‘built up’ and grow strong while connected to the other.’ The child comes to know her or his mother as the source of life and trusts that she will give all that is vital for living and growing. For the Israelites, this tender imagery expressed the relationship between God and themselves.
It is no wonder then that Jesus calls forth אָמַן (aman) in the people He meets and continues to meet. All of humanity’s ills then and now are rooted in a divided existence that seeks a false autonomy that makes idols of everything thus enslaving our lives in and to sin. אָמַן (aman) – the connection of life to and with Jesus offers true freedom and health of body, mind and soul that each may live in peace.
Podcast featuring an excerpt from Saint Basil the Great’s
On the Holy Spirit —
On the Holy Spirit —
