10/6/19: 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time: To Have Faith is to Surrender

In today's Gospel, the disciples say to Jesus, "Increase our faith". And he answers back, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed..." They are asking for something big, and he says that they must have something small. The disciples are constantly struggling in the Gospels to "increase" in various ways, yet Jesus wants that they would instead be small, like "little children." Authentic faith means not confidence in one's self but in God. It means believing in God's strength while we are weak. It means surrendering control to God and not seizing it for one's self. This is why faith like a "mustard seed" opens the way for God to be able to do the impossible in our life because we quit trying to pretend that we can do things ourself and just let Him do it.