08
Nov
Nov
Reflection: Luke 17: 1-6
Evangelist Luke pays great attention on the command of Jesus to care for the poor and oppressed. He finds the social and economic situation of the poor of his community had a lot in common with the situation in the Jewish society, where Jesus lived. Although the members of the community professed the same faith, the division between the rich and the poor within the community could never be totally addressed and redressed. Jesus says, leading a little one to sin is a more serious sin. For the evangelist Luke, the “little ones” that Jesus was referring to must have meant those poor and socially disadvantaged members of the Christian community or those who are frail in their Christian faith. They must have been struggling to maintain their faith in a secular world that did not care. Their struggle would have been compounded when the Christian community failed to accept and support them. The danger was real. And words of Jesus that – it would be better to be drowned in the sea than to lead someone to sin – served to emphasise this seriousness. Jesus emphasises the obligation of every member of the Christian community to be responsible for their brothers and sisters, protecting and supporting them. It is indeed important for all to accept genuine responsibility for each other. Forgiveness is an attitude that should identify a Christian, because it is the attitude of Jesus. When teaching the disciples to pray, Jesus had taught them that forgiving one another enables one to obtain God’s forgiveness. Jesus presented God’s forgiveness as an expression of God’s joy. But how often have we experienced the difficulty in forgiving those who have offended us? Forgiving becomes a difficulty or an impossibility when I hold on to the positions that I consider as right and demand the other to agree with my convictions. But that is not forgiveness. Can I give in and forgive the one who hurt me, in spite of knowing that he/she might repeat the same offence again? That is the challenge before the Christian. The prayer of the Apostles needs to be our prayer today: “Lord, Increase our faith.” All what Jesus asks of his disciples is not for great faith – but simple faith. A little faith – even to the size of the mustard seed… But, can faith be measured in quantity? Jesus emphasises – your faith, however little it is, guarantees God’s providence. Again, would any tree planted in the sea grow or even survive? Yes, it would! The Christian community had in fact been planted in an extremely hostile environment. In spite of the persecutions and killings, the survival and flourishing of the Christian community were purely the result of the providence of God.