HCA Staff Writer
There was once a severe drought in a farming region. The farmers were growing ever more anxious about the loss of crops and the erosion of the top soil. In one country parish a special prayer vigil was organized. The church was crowded with people praying for rain. After hours of prayers, they heard the very faintest patter on the roof. Gradually it grew heavier and heavier. The whole church thanked God in their final prayers before leaving for home. By that time, though, the rain had become so heavy that they all had to stand in the porch and wait for the storm to pass. All but one little girl. She was the only one who had brought her umbrella.
When the apostles ask Jesus to increase their faith he gives them a reply that may at first seem like a curious evasion of a reasonable request. After pointing out to them that a very small amount of faith is sufficient for the most astonishing deeds, he reminds them that the simple fulfillment of one’s duty, doing no more than one ought, is not to be considered a good reason for expecting special treatment. The suggestion is that they do not need more faith, nor should they expect that God would drop everything to give them what they want and when they want it, perhaps because God has already begun working on the solution, but it is not yet here.
Now a strong faith is a good thing, both to have and to want. But when we ask for it to be increased, we may not really be seeking a deeper trust in God. If God were to give us some sign of presence, some guarantee of a good outcome, then we might no longer need to take God’s word on trust. That might make things a lot easier for us, but we have no right to expect it, even if we live a good and holy life. We are asked to live a life with some uncertainty in it, to trust in God’s working. To lead such a life is to do no more than we are called to do through our baptism. Faith implies trust.
There are moments when our faith seems to be at a low point. For instance, some of us, including me, have asked God at times like Habakkuk in the first reading today, “How long, Lord?” How long do we have to wait until our country takes seriously the inherent value of every human being from womb to tomb? Lord, we have marched in front of Planned Parenthood. We have hired lobbyists to try to persuade our representatives. We have prayed, held all night vigils, novenas. We vote. We try to convince friends, neighbors, and even strangers. How long, Lord? And then, Roe v Wade is overturned on the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of 2022. And had it not been for the leak, it would have seemed to have come from nowhere.
In 1991, a Catholic bishop from the Ukraine came to the United States and participated in a weekend of Masses and lectures at Holy Apostles parish in Colorado Springs. Just a few years earlier, he would not have been able to travel to the United States because the iron curtain was still up. While he was here, various people told him about how many Catholics around the world, but especially in the United States, regularly prayed the Rosary for the conversion of Russia since the early 1920s. I doubt that there was a single Catholic at those gatherings who didn’t participate in this activity when they were growing up. So, the bishop expressed his gratitude to us for being faithful to that endeavor for our whole lives and reminded us that his being there was concrete evidence that God had acted powerfully, using people such as St. Pope John Paul II. Many of us teared up as we realized the truth of what he said. Perhaps, given the current state of things over there, we could return to the Rosary for that region.
God is acting. What we have asked for is not here yet. But if we continue, it will be. I can’t tell you when. Only God knows that. In the meantime, we should be about the work, and do what God expects us to do. It doesn’t make us heroes. It makes us collaborators in God’s plan to bring about what He desires. We are His workers, not His taskmasters.
Keep the faith. And keep your umbrella handy.
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