Memorial of Saint
Josephat, bishop and martyr
(Titus 1:1-9; Luke 17:1-6)
The fruit of the mulberry tree is hard to enjoy. It has a taste both sweet and tart, but more objectionably
a mulberry lacks substance. Eat one or a
hundred and you still feel hungry. What
is worse, it stains the hand that picks it and blotches the sidewalk if found
on a city street. The mulberry tree
gives little shade but sits like a mole on one’s face defying the beauty around
it. It is no wonder that Jesus suggests
that it be rooted out and sent to the sea.
We might compare eating mulberries to forgiving others of
their quirks and bad habits. Both set
our teeth on edge. It seems that people
should have more control of their actions, yet they can repeatedly make the
same offensive remark or commit the same foolish mistake. We want to scream at the perpetrators, but
Jesus tells us to be ready to forgive them.
The disciples ask Jesus for an increase of faith to follow
his directive. They reason the more they
trust God, the more conviction they will have to love others. Jesus assures them, however, that they have
enough faith. They have only to get over the self’s feeling abused by others’
mindless actions.
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