27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Both our reading and gospel are about "faith".
In our reading, the prophet Habakkuk was praying to God. He was asking God to save him from all the violence around him and he was wondering why God wasn’t helping him. God’s answer was to “be patient” and wait for his prayers to be answered. The evil will be destroyed and those with faith will live.
In our Gospel, the disciples asked Jesus to help them to believe more and to make their faith stronger. He told them that if they had faith the size of a tiny mustard seed, they would be able to move a tree from the ground to the ocean.
Special Saint/Feast Day: St. Maria Faustina Kowalska – Oct. 5th
Helen was born in Poland on August 25th, 1905. When she was seven years old, Helen knew she wanted to become a sister. When she was 25, she entered the convent of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, taking the name Sister Faustina.
Sr. Faustina cooked, looked after the convent garden, and answered the door. God blessed her with many extraordinary gifts including visions.
In one vision, Jesus appeared to her in a white garment. He raised one hand in blessing and touched his heart with the other. Two rays of light, one red, the other pale, spread out from his heart. The red ray represented the saving blood of Christ; the pale ray stood for the cleansing water of Baptism. Jesus asked her to have an image painted just like him with the words “Jesus, I trust in you.” The Sunday after Easter is called the Feast of Divine Mercy.
Sr. Faustina kept a diary where she wrote everything down so the world would know of the mercy of Jesus. It was her special work to encourage people to trust in the limitless mercy of God.
After thirteen years of religious life, Sister Faustina died on oct. 5, 1938 at 33 years old.
Jesus told St. Maria Faustina, “I expect you to show mercy always and everywhere. You cannot excuse yourself from this.” The best way to show that we trust in the mercy of Jesus is to be merciful and forgiving to the people who hurt us.