The Source of Goodness
Aug 12: Saturday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s Gospel seems paradoxical. Jesus says the disciples have “little faith” but then says that if they had “faith as a grain of mustard seed,” they’d be able to accomplish amazing miracles. So why isn’t their “little” faith enough?
We have to remember who really performs miracles—God. God’s power is unlimited, and therefore, it ultimately doesn’t matter how big your faith is. God is the one who performs the miracle, not the Apostles, and certainly not us.
Reading 1
Dt 6:4-13
Moses said to the people: "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today. Drill them into your children. Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest. Bind them at your wrist as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.
"When the LORD, your God, brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that he would give you, a land with fine, large cities that you did not build, with houses full of goods of all sorts that you did not garner, with cisterns that you did not dig, with vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant; and when, therefore, you eat your fill, take care not to forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. The LORD, your God, shall you fear; him shall you serve, and by his name shall you swear."
Here we see what Jesus identified as “the greatest and first commandment.”1 “Hear, O Israel!” in Hebrew is shema yisra’el, which is why Jews call this the Shema.
Some very devout Jews take literally the verse, “Bind them at your wrist as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead.” They wear phylacteries, a set of boxes with straps containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah.
Obviously, it’s good to take scriptures seriously, but it’s also a practice Jesus condemned,2 when “all their works are performed to be seen. They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.”
We should give glory to God, not try to bask in the reflected glory by showing others how pious we are.3
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 18:2-3a, 3bc-4, 47 and 51
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
I love you, O LORD, my strength,
O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
My God, my rock of refuge,
my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!
Praised be the LORD, I exclaim!
And I am safe from my enemies.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
The LORD live! And blessed be my Rock!
Extolled be God my savior!
You who gave great victories to your king,
and showed kindness to your anointed,
to David and his posterity forever.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
This Psalm goes hand-in-hand with Moses’ command to “drill [these words] into your children. Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest.”
We should praise God when things go well, not just when we need His help. Recalling great things from the past helps keep that gratitude at the forefront of our minds.
Alleluia
See 2 Tm 1:10
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Our Savior Jesus Christ has destroyed death
and brought life to light through the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The ultimate power Jesus has is over death itself, because He wants us to live forever with Him in heaven.
Gospel
Mt 17:14-20
A man came up to Jesus, knelt down before him, and said, "Lord, have pity on my son, who is a lunatic and suffers severely; often he falls into fire, and often into water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him."
Jesus said in reply, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Bring the boy here to me."
Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him, and from that hour the boy was cured. Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said, "Why could we not drive it out?"
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."
There’s a 21st verse, which is sometimes omitted, that goes: “But this kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting.” In other words, it’s not just having faith, but the right kind of faith.
The apostles’ failure does not stem from a lack of courage, enthusiasm, or desire to heal the boy. The problem is their dedication to God. They had obviously cast demons out before, but couldn’t this time. It seems they were starting to believe they had exorcised the demons themselves, rather than with God.
As the Moses and the psalm reminded us, we need to remember and acknowledge that God is the source of goodness, is goodness itself.
Obviously, not everyone who uses a phylactery is doing so for the praise of others. We shouldn’t condemn a devout practice by assuming we know what motivates someone else.