Put on your apron and wait on me

Hab 1,2-3; 2,2-4; Ps 94; 2 Tm 1,6-8.13-14; Lk 17,5-10
6 OCTOBER

In Holy Scripture faith is first of all, obedience to the Word of the Lord. One listens to a Word, he lives according to the Word heard and acts according to the command placed in it. Faith is also to welcome the Word of God as the purest truth and to base our existence on it. While men chosen by God must obey the historical command given to them by the Lord, all others must obey the Commandments, the Law and the Statutes of the Lord that are equal for all. Abraham obeyed the Lord, left his land and headed for the land of Canaan. Abraham believed the Word of the Lord that promised him a son. Faith is obedience, but also hope. Abraham also believed when the Lord asked his son for a holocaust. In this case, faith becomes very pure charity for his God.

The Lord said to Abram: “Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you. “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you” (Gen 12,1-3). Sometime after these events, this word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram! I am your shield; I will make your reward very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what good will your gifts be, if I keep on being childless and have as my heir the steward of my house, Eliezer?” Abram continued, “See, you have given me no offspring, and so one of my servants will be my heir.” Then the word of the Lord came to him: “No, that one shall not be your heir; your own issue shall be your heir.” He took him outside and said: “Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can. Just so,” he added, “shall your descendants be.” Abram put his faith in the Lord, who credited it to him as an act of righteousness (Gen 15,1-6). Sometime after these events, God put Abraham to the test. He called to him, “Abraham!” “Ready!” he replied. Then God said: “Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him up as a holocaust on a height that I will point out to you.” Early the next morning Abraham saddled his donkey, took with him his son Isaac, and two of his servants as well, and with the wood that he had cut for the holocaust, set out for the place of which God had told him (Gen 22,1-3).

Faith is a perfect relationship with the Lord in obedience, in truth and in love. By faith one obeys. By faith he hopes. By faith he loves. But it all depends on listening to the Word. If there is no listening, there is no obedience, there is no expectation of any fulfilment, charity does not reign. Where there is no listening to the Word, faith, hope and love are death. However, hope and charity exist in God, who has sworn a Word of hope on the foundation of his eternal love. However, in man, faith and hope might never reign. In fact, without listening there is eternal perdition. Today, this is the evil that is destroying the Christian life. Religion was separated from the Word, faith from obedience, hope from God’s promise and charity from its eternal and immutable truth. Either the Word of God is put back into the heart of the Christian’s relationship with his God and Lord, or idolatry and immorality will consume the earth. What is idolatry? The adoration of a God without truth. What is immorality? Man’s behaviour without the truth of the Commandment or the Law of God.

And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” The Lord replied, “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. “Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from ploughing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here immediately and take your place at table’? Would he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished’? Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded? So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.'”

What does Jesus ask his disciples? That they obey every Word that is addressed to them by their God and Lord. We obey the Word, we live by faith, charity and hope. We are useless servants, because we are asked only obedience to the Word, the Lord will be the one to do everything else. He works all through those who have faith in Him and obey the Word.

Mother of God, Angels and Saints arrange the Christians obey every Word of Jesus.