27th Sunday C

27^th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

Readings: Habakkuk 1:2‑3; 2:2‑4  2 Timothy 1:6‑8,13‑14  Luke  17:5‑10

Faith is more than an intellectual assent to an abstract creedal formula having nothing to do with daily struggles in life.  Today's readings plunge us into life's suffering and mystery where faith involves perseverance in struggling for God's justice.  As we actively wait in hope for the completion of God's kingdom, let us hearken to the call of the responsorial psalm:  "If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts" (Ps 95).

Habakkuk's prophecy comes from the period when idolatry and political corruption engulfed Judah, immediately prior to the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon.  In the midst of this moral chaos, the prophet repeatedly cries out to God about the "violence," "ruin," "misery," "destruction," "strife," and "clamorous discord" that surround him.  He accuses God of being indifferent to the corruption of the nation and the apparent triumph of injustice.  "How long, O Lord?  I cry for help/ but you do not listen!" 

God then challenges Habakkuk to do two things.  First of all, he must "write down the vision" about the triumph of God's justice.  Habakkuk must do this ahead of time "so that one can read it readily."  Then, God assures him that the vision is trustworthy.  "For the vision still has its time,/ presses on to  fulfillment, and will not disappoint."  Secondly, the prophet himself, along with the community, will have to wait for the fulfillment of the vision.  This time of waiting will sort out the foolish from the wise, the "rash" from the faithful. “If it delays, wait for it,/ It will surely come, it will not be late./ The rash man has no integrity;/ but the just man, because of his faith, shall live” (Hab 2:3‑4).

If one is tempted to think of faith as a passive virtue, the reading from 2 Timothy completely dispels this notion.  Timothy is a second or third generation Christian.  His faith came from his grandmother, Lois, and his mother, Eunice (see 2 Tim 1:5).  Now the Pauline author exhorts him "to stir into flame the gift God bestowed when my hands were laid on you."   Timothy's faith will have to be courageous and steadfast.  He is reminded, "The Spirit God has given us is no cowardly spirit, but rather one that makes us strong, loving and wise."  Timothy, like Jesus and Paul, may suffer persecution for the faith.  But he is warned: "never be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord, nor of me, a prisoner for his sake; but with the strength which comes from God bear your share of the hardship which the gospel entails."

The gospel also presents faith as a virtue for the active living of the Christian life.  In the previous section of Luke Jesus warns the disciples about the dangers of temptations to sin and the need to forgive a repentant brother who has sinned against them as many as seven times (Lk 17:1‑4).  Faced with these demands, the apostles beseech the Lord, “Increase our faith.”   Jesus replies by saying, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this sycamore, ‘Be uprooted and transplanted into the sea,’ and it would obey you.”

In the following parable of the master and the slave, Jesus then warns the disciples against understanding faith as a kind of meritorious claim on God for a reward.  Drawing upon the well‑known duties of the slave, Jesus reminds his followers, who may have done their duty by living lives of faith, that they should not expect an earthly reward, any more than a slave would expect his master to serve him supper after he has done his work in the field.  Rather, after they have done all they have been commanded to do, Jesus' disciples should say, "We are useless servants.  We have done no more than our duty."  True faith leads to continuous service, not shrewd calculation of rewards due for past actions.