Fr. Jijo Kandamkulathy CMF
The apostles’ request—“Increase our faith!”—is one we’ve all echoed at some point, when we could not take in pains, despite our best efforts to believe, when we doubted God altogether when tragedies stuck our lives unawares and how many other ways! “Increase our faith” sounds noble, even holy. But Jesus doesn’t respond with a spiritual guidance or a divine infusion of belief to the apostles. Instead, He points to something almost laughably small: a mustard seed. It’s as if He’s saying, “You don’t need more faith. You need living faith.” The mustard seed isn’t powerful because of its size—it’s powerful because it grows. Faith, in Jesus’ view, isn’t a quantity to be measured but a quality to be lived. We often treat faith like a tool: something to fix our problems, to unlock blessings, to make life easier. But Jesus resists that notion. He doesn’t describe faith as a magic wand to uproot trees or rearrange reality. He’s pointing to a deeper truth: even the smallest, most fragile trust in God can do the impossible—if it’s real.
Then He shifts the conversation with a parable that feels almost jarring. A servant works all day, comes home, and still prepares dinner for his master. No thanks. No reward. Just duty. Harsh? Maybe. But Jesus is teaching that faith isn’t transactional. It’s not “I serve; therefore I deserve.” It’s “I serve, because I belong.” It’s not a story about injustice—it’s a story about identity. We are not employees of God negotiating benefits. We are children who serve out of love, not leverage. The servant doesn’t complain because he knows who he is. And maybe that’s the heart of faith: not demanding more but living what we already have.
The apostles asked for an increase, but perhaps the better prayer is, “Lord, teach us to live the faith we already possess.” Because faith isn’t about volume—it’s about obedience, humility, and trust. It’s about showing up, even when no one notices. It’s about serving, even when no one applauds. And when we’ve done all we were commanded, we say, not with self-pity but with quiet joy, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.” Not to diminish ourselves, but to magnify the One who makes our small faith mighty.
This Gospel passage invites us to reframe our understanding of faith. It is not a spiritual currency to be accumulated, nor a badge of honor to be displayed. It is a posture of surrender, a rhythm of service, a quiet confidence that God is at work even when we are weary. The mustard seed reminds us that faith grows in hidden places—in the silence of prayer, in the persistence of love, in the humility of service. And the servant reminds us that faith is not about being noticed, but about being faithful. This week, let us not ask for more faith. Let us ask for mustard seed faith—faith that grows quietly, serves humbly, and trusts deeply. Faith that does not flex, but flourishes. Faith that does not demand but delights in doing the will of the Master.
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