27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

To The Epiphany Community 

Faith, even in its Smallest Measure, Opens the Soul to God’s Boundless Possibility 

(27 Week in Ordinary Time, Luke 17:5-10, 05 October 2025) 

Today’s Gospel passage (Luke17:5-10) presents the theme of faith, introduced by the disciples’ request: increase our faith! (Luke 17:5). A beautiful prayer, which we should pray often throughout the day: Lord, increase my faith! Jesus responds with two images: the grain of mustard and the willing servant: If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this sycamine tree: Be rooted up, and be planted in the sea, and it would obey you (Luke 17:6). The sycamine is a robust tree, deeply rooted in the ground and resistant to the winds. Thus, Jesus wishes to make it understood that faith, even if small, can have the power to uproot so much as a sycamine. And then to transplant it into the sea, which is something even more improbable: but nothing is impossible for those who have faith, because they do not rely on their own strengths but in God, who can do everything. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 2019.) 

Dearly Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ, In today’s Gospel, the disciples ask Jesus a simple yet profound prayer: Lord, increase our faith! (Luke 17:5). This request is at once deeply human and deeply theological. Human, because we know the fragility of our trust and the limits of our strength; theological, because faith is not a purely human achievement but a divine gift — a grace that comes from God’s own self-communication to us. Jesus answers with two images: the mustard seed and the willing servant. The mustard seed — the smallest of seeds yet capable of becoming a great tree — becomes a profound symbol of the nature of faith. Faith does not begin with grandeur or power; it begins in humble beginnings, often barely perceptible. Yet even the smallest measure of true faith opens us to the horizon of the impossible. To have faith is to plant oneself not in self-reliance, but in God’s promise, trusting that God can uproot the deeply rooted and plant them anew — as Jesus says: even if it were a sycamine tree. This is no metaphor for passive hope. Faith is a dynamic trust that acts. It moves mountains not through human force, but through a radical openness to God’s power. Faith as a mustard seed reminds us that God does not require greatness from us to work miracles, only a willing heart to receive His grace. 

The second image — the willing servant — turns faith into humility and service. The Christian life is not one of entitlement: We have done so much; therefore, we deserve, but of obedience: We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty (Luke 17:10). Faith thus does not make us masters of God, but servants of His will. It is not a claim to control, but a surrender to God’s providence, which transforms even the smallest offering into something powerful. This teaching challenges our notions of power. True power is not dominion through force but transformation through trust. Theologically, it calls us to see faith as a gift and as a vocation: a seed to be nurtured and a service to be lived. 

Pope Francis reminds us: Nothing is impossible for those who have faith. Faith does not rest on our strength but on God’s. Even a mustard seed can uproot the world — if it is rooted in Him. 

Today’s prayer, then, becomes ours: Lord, increase my faith. Not so that we might demand miracles as if they were owed, but so that we might humbly trust, serve, and witness to God’s transforming power in our lives. 

The Mustard Seed: A Portrait of Faith- The mustard seed is small — the smallest of seeds — almost invisible to the naked eye. Yet within its unassuming form lies the potential for astonishing growth. It speaks to the paradox of beginnings: what is great often comes from what is small; what endures often begins in silence and fragility. The mustard seed invites us to rethink power. True power is not always grandeur or force; it can be quiet, humble, latent, and patient. 

Theologically, the mustard seed becomes a living metaphor for faith. Faith is not primarily a quantity to be measured but a quality of openness: a trust in God that begins even when certainty is absent. As Jesus says: If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, nothing would be impossible (Luke 17:6). Faith, even in its smallest measure, opens us to divine transformation. It is not our strength that moves mountains, but God working through the seed of trust we place in Him. 

This seed also embodies hope and paradox. Its smallness reveals human humility before God; its growth reveals God’s magnifying grace. It reminds us that faith is not self-generated; it is planted and nourished by God’s love. As it grows, the mustard seed transforms into a tree — a place of shelter, strength, and life. Likewise, faith transforms the soul, bearing fruit beyond what we can foresee. In this way, the mustard seed becomes a theological portrait of the Christian life: a life rooted not in self-sufficiency, but in humble trust, patient hope, and the willing surrender to God’s providence. It teaches us that greatness in the spiritual life is born in small acts of faith, offered in simplicity and openness to God’s power. Thus, the mustard seed stands as both an image and an invitation: an invitation to plant our lives in the soil of trust, to let God’s grace work quietly within us, and to believe that even the smallest faith — when rooted in God — can transform the world. 

The Willing Servant: A Portrait of Faith in Action- In the Gospel of Luke (17:7–10), Jesus presents the image of the willing servant to illustrate the nature of Christian discipleship. The servant is one who works not out of entitlement, but out of duty; who serves without expectation of reward, knowing that obedience itself is its own purpose. The willing servant embodies the paradox of freedom through submission. True freedom is not the pursuit of self-interest, but the willing self-giving that recognizes a higher call. The servant chooses obedience, not because it is demanded, but because it is right. 

The willing servant is rooted in humility. To be willing is to renounce the illusion that we earn God’s favor. It is to acknowledge that all we have and all we do are gifts, entrusted to us by God. Service, then, becomes an expression of gratitude, not a transaction. This reveals an ethic of relational existence: we are not autonomous atoms but beings defined by our relationship to others and to God. The willing servant stands in this relational truth — serving not for personal gain, but because service is the natural expression of belonging. 

Theologically, the willing servant is a profound image of Christ Himself. Jesus is the Servant par excellence (Isaiah 53:), who came not to be served but to serve, giving His life for others. To be a willing servant is to imitate Christ’s kenosis — the self-emptying love that becomes the heart of Christian existence. Faith, then, finds its fullest expression in service: service offered without calculation, service offered in humble obedience, service offered because we are, by grace, servants of God. 

This image challenges our modern notions of achievement. In a world that prizes autonomy and reward, the willing servant calls us to a deeper truth: greatness in the kingdom of God is measured not by what we achieve, but by the readiness with which we serve. The servant does not demand recognition, for service is its own fulfillment. The willing servant is the soul of Christian faith in action. Faith is not a static possession but a dynamic movement toward love expressed in humble obedience. As Jesus reminds us, even the smallest measure of faith is enough to transform our service, making it a true offering to God. Thus, the willing servant stands as both image and invitation: an invitation to surrender pride, to embrace humble duty, and to live as a disciple whose life is defined by willing service to God and neighbor. 

Concluding Summary- Dear Friends, together these two images—the mustard seed and the servant—teach us that faith is both powerful and humble. It can move mountains, yet it is lived most authentically in simple, hidden acts of service. Faith does not mean relying on our own strength; it means opening our lives to the power of God, who works through us in ways we cannot imagine. Faith is God’s gift, not our achievement. Jesus teaches that even a little faith, like a mustard seed, carries extraordinary power—not because of us, but because of God working through us. True faith is not shown in miracles alone but in humble service, like the servant who fulfills his duty quietly and faithfully. To live by faith means trusting God with our struggles and expressing that trust through daily acts of love, prayer, and generosity. Each day we can echo the disciples’ prayer: Lord, increase our faith! Even the smallest faith, when placed in God’s hands, can accomplish what seems impossible. Jesus reminds us that true faith shows itself not in greatness or recognition, but in humble service and daily fidelity. Our constant prayer must be: Lord, increase our faith! Faith need not be large to be powerful; like a mustard seed, even the smallest trust in God can transform what seems unmovable. True faith is lived out in humble service each day. Jesus teaches that faith is not about size but about reliance on God. When we root our lives in Him, even the impossible becomes possible, and our service becomes a witness of love. The prayer of the disciples—Increase our faith! —is our prayer too. With God’s grace, faith gives us strength to overcome obstacles and courage to live with humility and love. 

Dear Epiphany, let us then make the disciples’ prayer our own: Lord, increase our faith! May He grant us a faith small but strong, humble yet bold, rooted not in ourselves but in Him, so that nothing may be impossible in our lives and everything may be offered in love. 

Fraternally, 
Fr. John Peter Lazaar SAC, Pastor