THE TEXT BELOW IS THE TRANSCRIPTION OF THE VIDEO COMMENTARY BY FR. FERNANDO ARMELLINI

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A good Sunday to all.

To understand the words of Jesus that we will hear in today’s Gospel passage, we must situate them in the context in which he pronounced them. He is on his way to Jerusalem together with the disciples, and he is demanding more and more of those who want to follow him. We have heard in the last few Sundays ‘if anyone wants to be my disciple he must go through the narrow gate; he must be willing to leave father, mother, his natural family’; it means to leave a whole tradition that says, ‘it has always been thought this way’ or ‘it was always done this way, as everybody else does.’ Now I propose something new: ‘What do you choose, tradition or do you choose me?’ Like when you fall in love and leave your father and mother; you still love them, but now all the choices, all the decisions are made together with the loved one.

Jesus is a lover who does not accept that other lovers are in the disciple’s heart. There is no compatibility with attachment to money, laziness, vices, defects, no. He is a very demanding lover. He also asked those who would like to be his disciples to renounce all possessions, to give all that they possess to the needy. And, precisely, in the verses that precede today’s Gospel passage, he asked for the willingness to unconditional forgiveness. He said that if your brother sins against you seven times a day, you must forgive him seven times.

In the face of such demanding formulations, it is natural that one begins to doubt, ‘do I follow it or don’t I follow it?’ And he evaluates his strength and asks himself, ‘will I be able to be with Jesus or not?’ Jesus also suggested that each one ask himself this question, he said ‘before building a tower, one considers if he has the necessary money so that it does not look like one start and then you must give it all up; don’t get halfway there. Evaluate your strengths.’ Or the one who must wage war: he evaluates whether he has a sufficient army.

Therefore, the one who wants to follow Jesus must ask himself this question, and if he does not do it, it means that he has not understood what Jesus proposes. The apostles who have understood have concluded, ‘we would like to follow him, but we feel weak, fragile, hesitant, we are willing to do something, but not everything, because he is asking too much.’So, they follow Jesus, but they are not entirely convinced. This is the reason why they make a petition to Jesus.

Let’s listen:

“And the apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith.’”

The apostles realized that they had little faith. Jesus had said to the Canaanite woman: ‘Woman, how great is your faith.’ But instead, he repeated several times to the disciples: ‘You are a people of little faith.’ For example, when he saw them toiling for food or clothing, he said: ‘Be aware that if God so clothes the grass of the field which is there this day and tomorrow it is thrown into the oven, how much more will he care for you people of little faith.’ When he saw them afraid by the waves of the sea… these are not the waves of the lake of Tiberias; they are the gales of life, the storms that we see in society, in the Church, the loss of values and one gets scared because one forgets that God accompanies the history of humanity and does not believe it; his faith is fragile.

Jesus says to these people that they are afraid, that they believe that they are those who must face the storms of the world alone are people of little faith. Even Peter, when Jesusinvites him to come to him because Peter follows his dreams, and Jesus tells him ‘come to me,’ Peter starts to go to Jesus, that is, towards his proposal, which is the gift of life, but then he is afraid. He’s afraid of dying, of losing his life, not in the waves of the lake of Tiberias, but in the choice that Jesus proposes, and he wants to turn back, he gets scared, and Jesus takes him by the hand and says to him, ‘Why do you doubt this is the right choice to come to me? You are a man of little faith.’

Also, to the disciples, when they are in the boat, and they argue because they have not taken bread, Jesus says, ‘Why do you, people of little faith dispute?’ At this time, they realize that they have little faith, and they ask themselves how to increase it; we have heard that they requested Jesus, ‘Increase our faith.’

But can faith increase or decrease? It depends on what is understood by faith. If, for example, faith is understood as adherence to the truths, to the existence of God, that Christ is a person who performed miracles, that he died on the cross, that he has risen… to give adherence to these truths can only be done by a believer. The atheist has no faith. So, faith understood as adherence to truth, cannot increase or decrease, it is or it is not. The atheist has no faith; not that he has a little, he has none at all. Faith is also adherence to truths, but it is not enough. In fact, in chapter two of his letter, James says: ‘Brethren, if one says he has faith but has no works, what kind of faith is his? For example, if a brother or sister has no clothes or daily food and one says to him try to get by; what kind of faith is that?’ You believe that there is only one God, that’s fine, but even the demons believe it and tremble.

It is not enough to believe certain truths; faith goes beyond that. Sometimes faith is identified with religion; that is, it is evaluated based on external manifestations of this faith;for example, when it is asked whether faith in Europe is increasing or decreasing, it is evaluated based on how many people go to church, how many pray, how many get married in church. It is clear that, if we understand it in this way, faith increases or decreases. But external manifestations of religiosity are not identified with faith, and they can continue to exist even for a long time when there is no trace of faith. How many times have we seen making the sign of the cross, which are simple superstitious gesture?

Let us clarify then what we understand by faith. First of all, believing is not an irrational choice; this would be credulity, and there is still a lot of this. Faith has to do with the mind. When Jesus said to love God ‘with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind’ he meant precisely that the choice one makes is reasonable. At a given moment, however, this reasonableness reaches its peak and goes no further; when, for example, one comes to the knowledge of Christ, studies his Gospel, and understands the message that he proposes, what conclusions does he reach? He says that what he reveals to me about God is very reasonable. The revelations of the pagan gods and idols were not reasonable at all. But the proposition of the face of God that Jesus makes to me and that he reflects with his person, this God is reasonable. And also, his proposal for man is wonderful; I can’t find a better one; every time I listen to it, I reflect and in the end I always conclude,Inevitably, he is right.

But this is not yet faith. Faith is triggered precisely after this reasonableness is experienced when one says: I give him my adhesion. When I fall in love with him to the point of saying: ‘I want to join my life to yours, in full harmony of purpose.’ Then the falling in love is triggered. This is faith. Then we understand that this faith can increase or decrease, and it can also disappear. I may have been with Jesus and have trusted in him for a certain time and then go back to the pagan life. The same thing happens in so many love relationships; there are the ups and downs, infatuations that grow and then fade; times when the involvement of the couple is total and other moments in which monotony, routine, and tiredness take over you and there is a risk that love, and mutual trust diminish.

Faith is precisely this falling in love with Christ after having understood the proposal that he makes to me is reasonable. And this faith can increase or decrease, and it is understandable then that in front of the proposal that Jesus makes to us, we can feel our weakness. Let us remember what happened in Capernaum, when listening to what Jesus proposes, people say, ‘this language is hard; who can accept it?’ So, it is a question of knowing how this faith, just like falling in love, can increase or decrease; we ask ourselveswho is the one who can make this faith grow? The disciples asked Jesus to make their faith grow.

Let us listen to what he answered them:

“The Lord replied, ‘If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”

We have heard the apostles’ request to Jesus: ‘increase our faith.’ The literal translation of the original Greek text says, ‘increase a little our faith, that little that we have.’ We understand, then, the reason why Jesus does not answer their question because it does not make sense; it is not he who can increase faith because faith is the free answer that people can give or reject to the proposal of love that Jesus offers to all.

We prove it every day; some remain only as admirers of Jesus; others fall in love only a little, give him a little adhesion, others give him a little more. The saints put their lives on the line for the Gospel. Let’s think of the saints of charity like John of God, Camillus de Lellis, the Cottolengo, Salvo D’Acquisto, Maximilian Kolbe. These really put their lives on the linefor the love of Christ. To urge us to give him our maximum adhesion, to entrust ourselves totally to him, Jesus, instead of answering the disciples, introduces a paradoxical image to tell us what prodigies faith can perform: “Say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it will obey you.” Matthew and Mark do not speak of a plant that can be uprooted and planted in the sea but of a mountain. that can be uprooted and thrown into the sea. This saying of the mountain must have been a proverbial image because Paul also uses it in chapter 13 of the First Letter to the Corinthians.

What plant is Jesus talking about? It is not known whether it is a mulberry or a sycamore tree; ‘συκαμίνῳ’ – ‘sycamine’ may be valid for both, but in Hebrew, it is שקמה – sikmá – sycamore, and I believe Jesus is referring to sycamore because it better reflects his thought. The sycamore was a very common plant in Palestine and Egypt; provided a durable wood that suffered neither from heat nor humidity. The coffins of the Egyptian mummies were made of this wood, and we still find them in excellent condition after thousands of years. In Egypt, the sycamore was also the symbol of immortality because this wood seemed incorruptible and the juice of the sycamore fruit was believed to have occult powers, including immortality. The sycamore is characterized by the fact that it has very strong and deep roots that are almost impossible to uproot and that remain in the soil for more than 600 years after the plant has been cut.

Jesus refers to two moments of this plant to tell what faith is capable of producing. The first: it is possible to pull up this plant, but it is very difficult; and the second is quite impossible: to make it grow in the sea. What did Jesus mean with these two hyperboles, with these paradoxical images? That faith can achieve extraordinary results, not only difficult ones but also the ones that everyone considers impossible. Jesus had told the father of that epileptic boy: “All things are possible for those who believe.”

Let’s think of some events that we consider very difficult or even impossible: world peace is something impossible; we are witnessing a competition about who threatens the most, who offends the most, who steals the most… thus there will never be peace. People will always continue to compete to tear each other apart like wolves. Why? Because they do not trust the Gospel. They want to solve problems with their heads. If they would trust it, even a little bit, not much, just a little, they would share the goods instead of stealing from one another; they would become conscious they are not supermen, owners of the world because God is the owner of the world. They would begin to understand that one is a person when one loves, when one cares for the needy and helps them, not when one dominates them. They would become a little more aware of this truth of the Gospel, and if they would trust in Jesus,not only would wars end, but injustice, misery, and hunger.

If the miracle does not happen, it is the fault of our lack of faith. We do not trust him. We think we can go on with our sins and that he does the miracle and that the consequences of our sins do not exist. The miracle is done by faith. Let us also think about how many sycamore roots we find in the hearts of people; we say that never will be uprooted resentments, grudges for grievances suffered, regain peace, to achieve reconciliation, to be able to forgive, to rebuild a relationship after a betrayal, are very difficult things; not impossible, but difficult. All this can be achieved if you trust in Jesus and his Gospel.

Let’s think even on a personal level: certain habits, certain vices, a life of compromise and even evil, that are rooted in us like second nature… are they impossible to eradicate? The answer is ‘no’; he who trusts in Christ and his Gospel also obtains this prodigy. And if the prodigies do not take place, it is because of our lack of faith because God does not do the prodigy; it depends on our acceptance of the proposal that Jesus makes, and when we trust in his word, the wonders are produced. To clarify his thought,

Jesus now introduces a parable; let’s listen to it:

“Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here immediately and take your place at table’? Would he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished’? Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded? So should it be with you. When you have doneall you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.’”

In the parable, Jesus introduces the figure of a slave who has spent all day in the field plowing and comes home in the evening tired; we would expect the master to congratulate him on his work and then say to him, ‘now sit down at the table and eat something.’ This is what we would expect today, not the disciples of Jesus’ time, who knew very well how the masters behaved. The slave was considered the property of the master and could not make any claim. Jesus does not intend to address the question of exploitation, social justice or slavery; he does not enter into this subject. He takes the fact and uses it as an example to give a lesson to whoever wants to be his disciple; and for this, he puts three questions.

The first one, do the master perhaps tell that servant to come in at once and sit at the table? The answer of the disciples is certainly ‘no.’ He will tell him no such thing; why? Because the servant is still a servant when he works in the field and at home, he is still a servant during the day and at night. That is his nature and identity, to always be ready to serve and only to serve. The second question that Jesus asks the disciples: “Will he not rather say to him: Prepare me something to eat, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink, then you shall eat and drink?” Will he not say that to him? The answer will be ‘yes, indeed, will tell him that. “You serve me; then you shall eat.” The behavior of this master offends our sensibility because the idea that crosses our mind is perhaps that Jesus wants to imply: ‘I am the master; you are servants and remember to obey always and only obey.’

What is Jesus getting at? He wants to instill two truths in the minds of the disciples and ours; the first that those who follow him must become conscious of their identity as servants; their nature will be that of always being a servant, there will never be a time or place where he will become a master. The vine always remains a vine, it does not change its nature; it cannot give pomegranates; it is expected, at all times, in all places, to give grapes, not something else. This is his nature. From the disciple of Christ, it is expected only that at all times and in all places to be available to serve anyone who needs him; this is the nature of the disciple, to be a servant always.

The second truth is, where does this servant nature come from? Someone would perhaps think that the master in the parable represents God, and we are servants, no. The master is not God; the master of the disciple is the poor, the one in need; it is he who gives orders to the disciple, and the disciple must always be attentive to the needs of the master who is the one in need and be always ready to serve, and he must not even wait for him to give him orders, he must anticipate the brother’s needs.

The nature of the disciple is to be a servant; and where does this servant nature come from? From the heavenly Father who is master of none, but a servant of all, for he is made of love and love alone. To love is to serve. The opposite of love is not hate; hate is something else. The opposite of love is dominion over the other to be served. Of this behavior, there is no trace in God who is servant and only servant. This face of God we have contemplated in Jesus of Nazareth, the perfect image of God, of the Father. He already said that he did not come to be served but to serve. Let us remember the gesture he made that reveals the identity of God by washing the feet of man. Let us remember that the most beautiful title that is repeated in the Bible addressed to the most important character is ‘servant of the Lord,’ that is, servant of God’s plan and design.

The third question that Jesus asks, and this is perhaps the crudest, is the one that surprises us more than the previous ones: Will the master perhaps have obligations to that servant who has fulfilled his commands? The answer is ‘no.’ And Jesus concludes: “When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.’” That is, we have behaved according to our nature.

These words of Jesus leave us a bit puzzled, and many attempts have been made to change this expression of being ‘unprofitable servants’ and attempts have been made to find a solution; ‘ἀχρεῖοί’ – ‘achreioi’ has no other meaning. It really means ‘useless.’ Let’s not twist it; let’s leave it as it is.

Why does Jesus use such harsh language? Jesus knows that the disciples may have understood and accepted their nature as servants, but there is still one more step to take, which may be the most difficult. It is the third truth that Jesus wants to inculcate in their minds: the gratuitousness of love, the gratuitousness that characterizes the service of the servant. The disciple does not love because he expects a reward, neither here nor in heaven,he loves because this is his nature as a child of God, and he wants to resemble his heavenly Father.

Jesus employs these provocative images because he wants to do away with the spirituality of merits preached by the Pharisees and also by some teachers of the spiritual life, even today. The Pharisees said that faithfulness to the law gave them the right to expect a reward from God. God, therefore, was an employer who paid at the end of the day. The disciple serves and loves because it is good to see the brother happy after having received my services. He loves because he wants to be like the heavenly Father.

What does this parable have to do with the subject that Jesus is dealing with, the subject of Faith? In the world, everyone dreams, not to be servants but to be masters; this is the logic that rules the world, the logic of the evil one according to Jesus; and these people feel more fulfilled, more persons the more they can dominate and be served. Can this world change, can a new world be born, made not of people who try to be all masters, and, therefore, have tocompete, but a world in which everyone feels servant to each other?

I think the answer that everybody gives is that it will never happen; it’s impossible in this sea of injustice, corruption, and violence, new and fraternal humanity can be possible where peace reigns. The world answers that this humanity will never be born. On the other hand, Jesus wants to tell us that faith can realize even this new and fraternal world. What greater miracle than this, that even a sycamore tree to grow in the sea? It is a prodigy inferior to what faith can accomplish: to create a world in which all feel that they are brothers and sisters,servants of one another. This is the world that God wants to be realized, and if we trust in the word of Christ, this world will come true.

I wish you all a good Sunday and a good week.