The Seed of Faith and the Silence of God: Trusting in the Darkness

Hab 1:12—2:4, Psalm: 9, Mt 17:14-20

Memorial of Saint Dominic, Priest

My dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

On this Memorial of Saint Dominic, the founder of the Order of Preachers, the Church presents us with a prophet who wrestles with God’s silence and a father who wrestles with his son’s suffering. The prophet Habakkuk cries out, “How long, O Lord? I cry for help, but you do not listen!” He sees violence and injustice, and God seems distant. The Lord responds, “Write down the vision clearly… For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint; if it delays, wait for it.”

In the Gospel, a father brings his epileptic son to Jesus. The disciples could not heal him. Jesus exclaims, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you?” He heals the boy, and the disciples ask why they could not drive out the demon. Jesus answers, “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.”

The prophet’s lament is the cry of every believer who has ever felt abandoned by God. The father’s desperate plea, “Lord, have pity on my son,” is the cry of every parent who has watched a child suffer. Both are met with a call to faith. Habakkuk is told to wait, to trust in the vision that will not disappoint. The father is told that his faith—even if it is as small as a mustard seed—can move mountains.

Saint Dominic understood this faith. He lived in a time of great corruption and heresy, when many had abandoned the truth. But he did not despair. He prayed, he preached, he founded a religious order dedicated to the proclamation of the Gospel. He trusted that the Word of God, sown in the hearts of the faithful, would bear fruit. He once said, “I have never begged anything from God but what I have obtained.” His faith was not a feeling; it was a decision to trust in God’s promise.

Pope Benedict XVI, reflecting on Saint Dominic, said, “He was a man of prayer and a man of the Word. He knew that the proclamation of the Gospel must be rooted in contemplation.” Pope Francis has said, “Faith is not a light that scatters all our darkness, but a lamp that guides our steps in the night.” And Saint Dominic himself taught, “A man who governs his passions is master of the world.”

What does this mean for us? We live in a world of violence, injustice, and suffering. We cry out, “How long, O Lord?” We see the mountain of our problems and feel our faith is too small. But the Lord tells us to write down the vision, to trust that His promise will not disappoint. He tells us that even the smallest faith can move mountains—not because our faith is powerful, but because the God in whom we trust is all-powerful.

This week, let us not be discouraged by our little faith. Let us plant the mustard seed of trust in the soil of prayer and wait for the harvest. Let us pray with Saint Dominic, “May the Lord bless us and keep us; may He make His face shine upon us.” And let us be like the mustard seed—small but full of life, trusting that God will bring His vision to fulfillment. Amen.

May God bless you all!

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