The Heart of Faith and the Mustard Seed

Deut 6:4-13, Psalm: 17, Mt 17:14-20

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, today’s Scriptures pierce our spiritual complacency. Moses proclaims the non-negotiable totality of loving God, while Jesus exposes the disciples’ failure to heal because of their “little faith.” In this tension, we discover that true faith is not abstract devotion but total surrender—binding God’s Word to our daily lives and trusting in His power over every darkness.

In today’s first reading, Moses delivers Israel’s core creed: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone!” (v. 4). This demands an all-consuming response to love God with all your heart, soul, and strength (v. 5), bind His words on your hands, forehead, and doorposts (v. 8-9) and remember His goodness amid future prosperity (v. 12).

The Shema (Hebrew: “Hear”) is Judaism’s central prayer, later affirmed by Christ (Mk 12:29-30). It establishes monotheism and total self-gift as the bedrock of covenant life. As Pope Benedict XVI taught us, “The Shema calls for unity of life… Faith must engage the whole person in every moment” (Jesus of Nazareth, Vol. 1). Binding God’s Word: Literally fulfilled in phylacteries (tefillin) and mezuzahs, this prefigures the Church’s sacramental (rosaries, scapulars) that keep faith tangible (CCC 1674). Spiritual Amnesia Warning: “Do not forget the Lord” (v. 12) anticipates Israel’s idolatry. Prosperity often breeds forgetfulness.

In today’s Gospel, a desperate father kneels: “Lord, have pity! My son is a lunatic!” (v. 15). The disciples, unable to heal him, draw Jesus’ rebuke: “O faithless generation!… Bring him to Me” (v. 17). After healing the boy, Jesus reveals the disciples’ failure: “Because of your little faith… If you have faith like a mustard seed, nothing will be impossible for you” (v. 20). “Little Faith” (Oligopistia) means Not no faith, but faith diluted by self-reliance, fear, or doubt (CCC 162). The disciples likely trusted their own authority rather than Christ’s power. We should have mustard Seed Faith. The smallest seed (1mm) becomes a large shrub. Jesus demands not quantity but quality—total dependence on God (Lk 17:6). With that faith, Christ’s authority over demons continues through the Church’s sacraments and prayer (CCC 1673).

In our Daily Life, we should recite the Shema Daily (Deut 6:6-7) as St. Dominic recited the Shema hourly, tying faith to time. We should “Bind” God’s Word Physically (Deut 6:8-9) by placing Scripture in our workspace. We have to combat Forgetfulness with Gratitude (Deut 6:12): As St. Ignatius Loyola taught us, “Ingratitude is the enemy of the soul… It suffocates faith.”

Moses’ call to total love and Jesus’ demand for mustard-seed faith are two sides of one coin: Absolute surrender to the God of impossible possibilities. The father in today’s Gospel shows the way—kneeling in desperation, he received a miracle.

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, bind the Shema to your hearts. Bring your ‘lunatic’ struggles to Christ. Then watch as your ‘little faith,’ planted in the soil of total love, uproots mountains for God’s glory. For as St. Teresa of Ávila promised: “With God, everything is possible. He would never command the impossible.” Amen.