October 5, 2025
Luke 17: 5-10
In this passage of the Gospel we have two elements. The first is the apostles’ request to Jesus to increase faith in them and the second speaks of the servant who works in the field, arrives at the master’s house and serves dinner. Jesus goes on to say that when the worker finishes, he says, “I just did my duty.” This is how the apostles and followers should do as well. It is within the context of various stories that speak of actions that show that the kingdom of God is here. As followers of Jesus we live the kingdom right now.
Let me tell you a story that I lived this end of the week that suddenly clarified this reading and at the same time the event was clarified by the Word. I went with a group of people to a camp of farmers who are occupying land that a large international mining company is trying to take over. Xingu Vivo, the entity that is accompanying this occupation, had scheduled the first harvest festival and invited Jane Dwyer and me, members of the Pastoral Land Commission, to participate.
We arrived at the event site and found signs of a lot of work. The area had been cleared, raked, and the leaves and brush pushed away to create a gathering space. All was under the natural shade of the forest. Four farmers arrived who continued the work. They brought some boards, cut the wood into several pieces and with hammer and nails made a table with two benches. They cut another piece of wood from the forest and tied the pieces together forming other benches for the people to sit on. They dug a hole to set fire to roast meat. Everyone worked. The farmer to whom this área is destined gave direction and helped. Everyone helped with the greatest willingness. They set fire in a clay stove with brick and stone supports to hold the pots and cook rice. beans and cassava. Some people prepared the food and others cleaned and arranged the meeting area. The water is far away, at the foot of a slope. Four young men took turns going down and bringing buckets of water to cook and wash the pots and dishes.
At the time of the meeting and celebration, the people gathered, sitting on the improvised benches. Some people continued to take care of the meat that was roasting and the pots on the fire. They shared gratitude, hope and the dream of a productive land. They shared the produce: pumpkin, squash, yams, beans, pineapple, cassava, sugarcane, rice, melon São Caetano, banana, potato, cocoa, corn, pepper and coffee. They recalled that the company has threatened farmers, keeps a watch spying on the activities of the people, but faith, unity and persistence have prevailed. The struggle continues. The defense of life is to work together and keep faith in each other as well as in the God who is present in everything.
When I read and meditate, “Lord, increase your faith in us.” Jesus answers: if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to a great tree: uproot and plant yourself in the sea and the tree would obey.” I see this in the faith that the people have in each other. I feel the strength among them to free the earth from the company that only wants destruction and profit. This faith in their struggle for life, for land, a safe place to live and work and for freedom will remove any impediment to this dream of a new society.
Jesus says if one of you (remembering that “you” are the apostles, followers, the poor) has a servant, you call him to serve and the servant says at the end: I have done only my duty. This is not servitude, but service for the good of all. I see this in these people working together, each one giving ideas and striving for the good of all. The man to whom this área is destined, was in the middle, helping by giving direction and finding tools at the right time. You don’t have to thank, praise or reward anyone. The gratitude and the prize are already present in the joy of a job well done for the good of all.
Later in this chapter it says do not ask where the kingdom of God is, or when the kingdom will arrive because the kingdom of God is already here. In this camp of poor people working together to defend life and land, the kingdom is. The Gospel lives!
- This story comes directly from the communities of Brasil. Does it resonate with you? What does this Gospel say to you?
- Where do we see the action of faith among us? What more can we do to live the Kingdom of God today?
Luke 17: 5-10
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.
“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 done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.'”
Meet Sister Katy Webster, SNDdeN
