Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s readings remind me of one thing: war. The prophet Habakkuk says to the Lord “How long, O LORD? I cry for help but you do not listen! I cry out to you, ‘Violence!’ but you do not intervene.” It makes me wonder what Habakkuk’s faith was like, and better yet, what is your faith like? Is it the size of a mustard seed? Or is it smaller? Microscopic? Do you even have faith?
If we have the tiniest amount of faith, we can move mountains by the Lord’s strength and win battles for the Lord! For example, I remember this past summer I was getting my hair cut, and the barber—an 18-year-old—who recently graduated high school with his girlfriend and had a one-week-old baby. The barber asked me what I did for a living, and I told him that I was a Benedictine monk and that we pray for people not only in the Church but for everyone in the world. He said to me “since you have to pray for people, could you pray for my one-week-old son?” I told him absolutely! And I gave him three miraculous medals. After he cut my hair, I asked him “would you like to pray now?” He replied, “can you teach me?” I said sure! As we prayed, the rest of the barbers turned off their razors and stopped cutting hair, and joined us as we prayed for this nice young man and his little family and placed them under the protection of Our Lady of Guadeloupe. I ended up giving everyone in the barbershop miraculous medals, customers and workers. After that, I stopped and thanked God for using me as His instrument and using His strength to bring His word to these wonderful people. Never be afraid of the battle that rages on within you. God is always present. Never harden your heart because, if you do, no mountains will be moved.
Reflection by Br. Maximilian Burkhart, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections