Reflection for November 13, Monday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 17:1-6

Gospel: Luke17:1-6

Jesus said to his disciples, “Things that cause sin will inevitably occur, but woe to the one through whom they occur. It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. 

Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, ‘I am sorry,’ you should forgive him.” 

And the Apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” 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.

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Reflection:

Jesus has a lot of things to say to us in this gospel reading about Sin, Forgiveness and Faith. 

First: We must always be careful not to be a conduit for our brothers and sisters to sin. And if we see somebody committing sin in whatever manner we must always have the courage to advice them to avoid sin. Sometimes we think twice if we would advice a sinner simply because we are afraid of the consequence of our actions. We should not allow these factors to deter us because it is our moral obligation to correct those who go astray. 

Second: We must always forgive those who have done us wrong no matter how deep the wound that they have caused us. If God can forgive who are we not to forgive? Let us always remember that the more we keep deep-seated resentment and anger in our hearts the more that we allow them to hurt us. When we forgive we would feel that a big burden has been taken off our backs. 

Third: No matter how hard the times are right now, we must continue to have faith for it is in having faith that we manifest how deep our love and hope for God. The apostles said to Jesus: "Increase our faith." 

Isn’t this what we also want to have in our life an increase in our faith on Jesus? If this is so, we should not only ask, we should do something about it by thirsting for Jesus. In other words we have to walk our talk. If we will not work for it, our increase of faith will not drop like manna from heaven.   

God smiles to those who exert effort to know Him and He surely showers His wisdom upon them. – Marino J. Dasmarinas