October 5 - Sunday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time, Year C

(Hb.1:2-3,2:2-4;   Ps.95:1-2,6-9;   2Tm.1:6-8,13-14;   Lk.17:5-10)

 

“The vision still has its time,

presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint.”

 

And we are servants of this Gospel.

And so, with faith and in patience we must accomplish “what we [are] obliged to do.”  We must serve the Word of God.  Never hardening our hearts against the voice we hear, rather, we should “stir into flame the gift of God” we are blessed with as Christians, as Catholics; “the Holy Spirit that dwells within us” should be our refuge and our guide – it should be our stronghold despite any “destruction and violence” we witness before us.  For we know that if we endure till the end, till the fulfillment of the vision of the Gospel, though we deserve it not, the Lord will call to us when we “come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field and say, ‘Come here immediately and take your place at table.’”  Indeed, He has promised in His mercy and His glorious benevolence to put on His apron and serve us, His “unprofitable servants,” at table in the eternal kingdom.  But have we the faith to believe?  Have we the patience to endure?  Listen to His assuring words: “Wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late.”  His Word is certainly true and the vision written “clearly upon the tablets” of our hearts, if we believe.

And we show our faith when we “sing joyfully to the Lord,” when we “bow down in worship” before Him in spite of any “clamorous discord” that surrounds us in this world.  In such praise in the face of the darkness of evil we bear “hardship for the Gospel with the strength that comes from God.”  Yes, He alone is our strength; it is from Him alone that we find the faith and patience to endure and produce fruit upon this earth.  So, “let us kneel before the Lord who made us.  For He is our God, and we are the people He shepherds.”  Though we cry out, “How long, O Lord?” with the prophet Habbakuk, we know that if we listen to the instructions of the Apostle Paul to “take as [our] norm the sound words [we] heard from [him],” “in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” we shall endure, and we shall find answer to our prayer.

The vision is coming to fulfillment.  The Lord of all is with us now.  Let us “not be ashamed of [our] testimony to our Lord,” but proclaim with courage the word the Spirit prompts in our hearts – Jesus is Lord!  Let us say it.  Let us not be afraid of it or its consequenc