LACK OF FAITH

Friday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Mt 13:54-58

My home parish in Vietnam is so blessed to have two religious convents of nuns in my parish; my mom is funny; if there is a struggle in my family, instead of asking her son, a priest, to pray, she comes to the religious sisters to ask for prayers. I asked her why she did that, and she said she loved the sisters because they looked very holy. I told her what about me? She said you are my son, and I know you. Now, I know why Jesus said, “No prophet is acceptable in his hometown.”

St. Thomas Aquinas states, “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”

Today, we see in the Gospel Jesus “did not do any mighty works there because of their unbelief” (13:58). Origen commented that, “These words teach us that miracles are performed among believers. In the case of unbelievers not only were no miracles performed, but as Mark put it, they could not be done. “He could do no mighty work there (Mark 6:5). Notice that Jesus did not say that he was unwilling, but only that he was unable.

It is because there had to be cooperation between the faith of the one on whom the miracle worked and the power that worked miracles. Consider the miracles of the woman with a blood hemorrhage, the blind man in John's Gospel, and the paralyzed man. In all these cases, faith and cooperation work together with God’s miracles. They have faith, and they act on that, and miracles happen. So, the question is, does God’s miracle work even with unbelief? Matthew and Mark wanted to show that it can work even with unbelief. However, in that case, it is not as great as when it works among those who believe. To put it precisely, God can perform miracles everywhere he wants, but more powerful deeds may be performed with faith and cooperation for to him who has, more shall be given, and he will have abundance (13:12

My point is that lack of faith can limit God’s divine works. This suggests that the people's skepticism and lack of faith prevented them from experiencing the miracles and teachings that Jesus could offer. You are so blessed because you have faith in God and his miracles, which happen every day in your life. Your presence here every morning is a statement of your faith. Please never underestimate that you are here because God is working in you. Now let us turn to the greatest miracle happening here at this altar: when the Son of God comes down from heaven to be in the Eucharist so that we may become who he is. That is the greatest miracle we have.