Study:  Reflect on a moment when your faith was on fire.  What people or events helped make this happen?

Pray:  Is your faith struggling right now?  Ask the Lord to renew the fire within your heart.

Serve:  Is there someone in your life who is struggling with their faith?  How can you help support them?

Mass Readings – 27th Sunday of the Year

The Second Letter to Timothy and the Gospel of Luke offer us a couple of crucial insights regarding our faith in Jesus Christ.

The words to Timothy are inspiring:  “I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God…for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but of power and love and self control…Guard this rich trust with the help of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us.” 

We have received the grace of Jesus Christ through our sacraments, prayer, and the power of the Holy Spirit.  There is power in these words!  Our lives are transformed when we open out hearts to the fire of faith, and we receive strength to face the difficulties and challenges of life with God’s help.

Sometimes we can lose sight of the great gift of our faith.  We can take it for granted, leave it uncultivated, or perhaps stop feeding it with the proper fuel.  Yet when we nourish our faith in Jesus Christ, the power of the Lord’s love renews us and directs us to share our lives with others in dynamic ways.  We become so much more when our faith is burning bright; indeed, we shine as sons and daughters of God.

But how does this faith start?  In Luke’s Gospel the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith, and the Lord reminds them that faith – like a seed – always begins as a tiny thing.  Just as a single spark can become a roaring fire, so too, our faith can blaze forth when we willing call upon God’s help.

How do you see your faith today?  Is it burning hot or only a tiny ember?  We hold firm to the conviction that the Lord can take even the smallest spark and infuse it with holy fire.  May we ask the Lord to touch our faith so we can glow with the love of Jesus Christ.