Words for all generations

Dt 6:4-13
Moses said to the people: “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today. Drill them into your children. Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest. Bind them at your wrist as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates. When the LORD, your God, brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that he would give you, a land with fine, large cities that you did not build, with houses full of goods of all sorts that you did not garner, with cisterns that you did not dig, with vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant; and when, therefore, you eat your fill, take care not to forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. The LORD, your God, shall you fear; him shall you serve, and by his name shall you swear.”

Mt 17:14-20
A man came up to Jesus, knelt down before him, and said, “Lord, have pity on my son, who is a lunatic and suffers severely; often he falls into fire, and often into water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.”

Jesus said in reply, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Bring the boy here to me.” Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him, and from that hour the boy was cured.

Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Today’s message in the readings hit home in a particular way. I felt like Moses pulled me aside and spoke to me personally, reminding me to keep God first.

I can't help but see how little we change from one generation to the next. Moses' message could so easily have been written to our generation as we live and move seemingly without stopping so much of the time. We need the encouragement to teach our children, and keep the thought in front of ourselves, on our wrists, or on our foreheads.

The message is so practical and down to earth; I really feel like I can relate and apply it to my life today as I worry I’m supposed to fix the world I live in by myself.

In Deuteronomy, when the LORD delivers the people to the promised land, where everything will be already built and in good shape He tells them not to forget the LORD, or from where they have come. I think it is human nature to forget when life gets easier. It is why we have to remind each generation of the tough times, and of how far we can move from our Creator’s Will if we forget to include him in our daily lives, to live in Christ.

In the Gospel reading, Jesus is teaching on the same subject, for how does our Faith really grow, except to let our relationship with God grow? The disciples are surprised when they can not dislodge the demon from a man’s son, but Jesus does so with no trouble. So, they ask him why and he tells them, “Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20-21). We make these same errors in judgment today; and I am grateful for the small reminders, that come in the form of Scripture, or even in the form of trouble.

So, today we are reminded to grow in Faith by loving the LORD God with our whole hearts, with our whole soul and with all our strength; pretty simple. May we continue to see the little reminders that come our way, when our day, our life doesn’t quite go the way we’d like it to go; for nothing about life is impossible for those who have Faith.

And if you don't see the little reminders, create your own! Mom and I were talking the other day on her trip to Simi Valley about what we do when we are in those "moods" that we forget His presence. Mom says she just reaches down to her chest and touches her scapular. I touch the rosary that I always have in my pocket and it gives me the strength to face whatever comes my way. And then of course there's always the universally popular sign of the cross! Give it a try! What can you lose? Nothing! What can you gain? Faith. Hope. Love.