Luke 17: 5-6 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." The Lord replied, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. Click to read the entire gospel.

"The Light of the World" is the title of a famous painting by Holman Hunt  done in 1854. The painting shows Christ with a crown of thorns on his head and a lantern in his hand, knocking at a closed door. When  Holman Hunt first showed the painting to a group of friends one  of  them pointed  out  that he make a mistake because the door in the  painting  doesn't have  a  handle. The painter said in response that this is no mistake becaue the handle on this door is on the inside.  Click here to see a copy of the painting.

In Sunday's gospel the apostles say to Jesus "increase our faith". Jesus says in response that if you had the smallest amount of faith ("the size of a mustard seed") you could do the impossible (tell a mulberry tree to be uprooted and put into the sea). A mulberry tree has a deep root system and is hard to uproot.

But what is faith? Faith is one of those words like love that means different things to different people.  In the bible,  faith is opening the door of our heart and letting Christ in. The basic message of the bible is that God wants to be part of our life and be friends with us. Jesus, the son of God, was sent into the world by God the Father to invite us into a relationship with him as friends. But as the story about the painting by Holman expresses so well He can not let himself into our lives because the handle of the door of the human heart is on the inside. Faith is nothing more than us opening the door of our heart and letting God in. God the Father through Jesus is inviting us to friends with him, and faith is saying "yes" to that invitation. Faith is a commitment to God. Friends are committed or dedicated to one another, and faith is a commitment to God as our friend.

Faith is just the beginning of our friendship or relationship with God. The purpose of the Faith Formation year is to show us ways to grow in relationship or friendship with God, but we must make the first step of faith and say "yes" to God before growing in relationship with Him. Say "yes" to God.