It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around his neck. Truly, this
would be better for that person, than to cause one of these little ones to fall. Listen carefully:
if your brother offends you, tell him, and if he is sorry, forgive him. And if he offends you seven
times in one day, but seven times he says to you, ‘I’m sorry,’ forgive him.” The apostles said to
the Lord, “Increase our faith.” And the Lord said, “If you have faith, even the size of a mustard
seed, you may say to this tree, ‘Be uprooted, and plant yourself in the sea!’ and it will obey you.“

Reflect

“Increase our faith.” We often hear the expression, “Faith can move mountains.” Thus, if
things do not happen despite our best effort to pray, then we may be lacking in faith. There is
a need to increase our faith. The Lord is the one who can increase our faith but there has to
be, at least, a little of it for the Lord to make it grow. In today’s Gospel, the apostles of Jesus
pleaded him to increase their faith. Jesus told them that if they would have a faith even the size
of a mustard seed, impossible things will be possible such as commanding a tree to uproot
itself and plant itself in the sea. Moreover, in the Gospel passage, the request of the apostles
for Jesus to increase their faith happened after Jesus taught them to forgive. They have to
forgive seven times in one day if the one who sinned would ask for it. It seems that Luke put
the element of faith and forgiveness together in this pericope. To forgive once might already be
difficult. To forgive endlessly is impossible, but possible for a person who has faith even the
size of a mustard seed because Jesus will surely do the rest.

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