Luke 17:3-6 NRSVue
3Be on your guard! If a brother or sister sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. 4And if the same person sins against you seven times a day and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive.”
5The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
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Further reflection
Here are two very strong challenges from the Lord? Is there one that I am meant to hear right now?
If forgiveness is the issue that I am called to address, can I turn to the Lord and speak frankly about what is involved? If he is calling me to forgive soemthing, then he must give me the means to do it.
Is faith my issue? If the Lord is really challenging me to make the leap, he will lead me along the way. Can I speak openly to him about this?
'Forgive us our trespasses,' we repeatedly say to God - and we need to repeat it as we trespass again and again. You tell me, Lord, to be as patient with others' repentance as you are with mine.
'Increase our faith,' begged the apostles. For most of us, said Francis Thompson, God is a belief; for the saints, a touch. Lord, let me feel your touch in prayer.