Reflections for 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time C

 

I am the Good Shepherd

The Good Shepherd gives his life for his sheep.

I know my own and my own know me.

You are precious in my sight.

 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

Habakkuk  1: 2-3; 2: 2-4, Psalm 94:1-2, 6-9 Rv.8, 2 Tim 1:6-8. 13-14,

The upright man will live by his faithfulness

O that today you would listen to his voice, harden not your heart.

Fan into flame the gift that God gave you when I laid my hands on you.

Were your faith the size of a mustard seed.

Luke 17:5-10

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, 'Increase our faith.' ⁶ The Lord replied, 'If you had faith like a mustard seed you could say to this mulberry tree, "Be uprooted and planted in the sea," and it would obey you. ⁷ 'Which of you, with a servant ploughing or minding sheep, would say to him when he returned from the fields, "Come and have your meal at once"? ⁸ Would he not be more likely to say, "Get my supper ready; fasten your belt and wait on me while I eat and drink. You yourself can eat and drink afterwards"? ⁹ Must he be grateful to the servant for doing what he was told? ¹⁰ So with you: when you have done all you have been told to do, say, "We are useless servants: we have done no more than our duty." '

Servant or Son?

Who are we before God? Everything I am is his gift. I was ‘no-thing’ until God conceived me in his heart before the world began. He chose me in Christ to be his own. He chose me to share in his divine life just as Jesus, the Son of God, shares in our human life. Everything about me is his gift - his gift of love for me and for the world.

            The apostles ask for an increase in faith. Is faith a commodity which can be added to? It is God who does everything and faith is to realize this. I must allow God to act through me, his child. Of myself I cannot do anything, even when I appear to be ‘gifted’. Of myself I am still ’nothing’ but by his grace he may do many things through me. How we desire to take the glory for the things he does through us! We want people’s accolades. Faith is to surrender to the goodness of God, allowing him to bring about his Kingdom through us and not stealing the glory that rightly belongs to him.

            God owes me nothing and I owe him everything. It is he who gives me the grace to serve him. I cannot earn heaven or indeed anything by my own efforts. My life is a response to his love. God loves me. My life and the world we live in are the proof that God is love. I respond by pleasing him in everything. It is not to earn heaven. Heaven is a gift. I am not in a commercial relationship with God but of love. He loves me and I respond to his love. So when I have done everything I can, what have I done? I have responded to his love but can never respond enough. Furthermore while on this earth my response is always tainted.

            I am not a servant but a son. As a son I will work for my Father out of love and respect for him. I do not work for a reward because I know that through his love for me ‘everything he has is mine’. My Father does not owe me a debt of gratitude for my loving him. I can do no more in return for everything he does for me. I must always trust in his love even though I can’t see him and indeed often cannot understand him. He may appear silent and even unconcerned but I know that this is only an appearance and one day when I am fully enlightened I will realize that his concern was ever with me. “Since my heart was embittered and my soul deeply wounded, I was stupid and could not understand: yet I am always with you; you take hold of my right hand…and at the end you receive me with honour” Ps.73:21.

Father, may I always trust in your goodness and allow you to work out your will through me.