Monsignor Enrique Díaz Díaz shares his reflection with Exaudi readers on the Gospel of this Sunday, October 5, 2025, entitled: “Lord, increase our faith.”

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Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4:  “The righteous shall live by faith”

Psalm 94:  “Lord, may we not be deaf to your voice”

II Timothy 1, 6-8, 13-14:  “Do not be ashamed to bear witness to our Lord”

Luke 17, 5-10:  “If you had faith…!”

“No one has faith anymore” was one of the harshest expressions we heard in recent days, especially during family gatherings. “They don’t want to get married, they don’t want to commit, they doubt and question everything, they seek an easy life.” And it’s a reality our society faces: doubt, uncertainty, and lack of commitment. I think it would be good for us to pray to the Lord as the disciples did: “Increase our faith,” especially in this world of pessimism, insecurity, and lack of commitment.

Today, Jesus presents us with two important aspects of what it means to be his disciples: having a firm faith and fulfilling our duties out of a conviction of service, not out of expectation of reward. And what a need for faith we have in these times. Because of all the news, because even those we believed to be most upright have failed us, because corruption is everywhere, we are living in a time of disenchantment, indifference, and skepticism. In the Church itself, we have had strong and harsh failures that make many believers doubt whether they only place their faith in people and not in Jesus. “Moments of crisis are for making us grow,” my brothers told me a few days ago, when we were analyzing the serious situations our society is going through.

It’s beautiful to discover brothers and sisters who have great faith, who do small things in the most difficult moments, who continue to show despite the bad times. How true it is that when one door closes, others open. But sometimes we are so stunned and stubborn, staring at the one closed door, that we don’t perceive the possibilities of other doors that can be opened. How different Jesus’ actions are! I can’t imagine him thinking like a failure despite the difficulties. That’s why he teaches us today that “If you had faith, even the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this leafy tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”  And it’s not about moving trees around, but about something much deeper: filling the emptiness in our hearts, giving hope to those who feel discouraged. Faith in Jesus is knowing that we are in the hands of the Lord who loves us. It is appreciating God’s gift of love despite the difficulties. This is why the Apostle Paul advises Timothy:  “I urge you to stir up the gift of God… for the Lord has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love.”  It means acting according to that spirit the Lord has given us. Faith is not an ineffective wait, leaving everything in God’s hands. Quite the contrary, it is the serious and quiet commitment of one who has experienced the resurrection of Jesus within themselves and is therefore able to set out to overcome all obstacles.

The second part of the Gospel also has a rich lesson, perhaps forgotten by us. Someone once said that these days the important thing isn’t to lay an egg, but to know how to crow about it. And so, there are those who make a lot of noise and few actions. If we paid attention to all the propaganda presented to us, to the great works accomplished, to the completed projects… we would be in the land of plenty. But sometimes more is spent on advertising than on the works themselves. We are always saturated with propaganda, paperwork, promises, but with very few actions. That’s why Jesus today invites us to act from the small, from the mustard seed, to do so with great faith and hope, and to do so with complete silence and humility. Is it difficult? Of course, it is, that’s why the apostles themselves implore Jesus:  “Increase our faith.”   Because they themselves fled from failure, and in the hour of triumph, they prided themselves as if they had done everything themselves. How many examples of quiet and humble service we have in our families, in our communities, in our towns! And they are not the ones who appear in the newspaper headlines, but with how much truth they live the Gospel.

There are problems and difficulties in our world, but there are also those who live the Word of God fully and then simply say,  “We are nothing more than servants; we have only done what we had to do,”  as Jesus asks. Therefore, despite the grave clouds that appear in all our surroundings, there are reasons for hope: In the hearts and lives of our peoples, a strong sense of hope beats, despite living conditions that seem to obscure all hope. This hope is experienced and nourished in the present, thanks to the gifts and signs of new life that are shared; it is committed to building a future of greater dignity and justice and longs for  “the new heavens and the new earth”  that the Lord Jesus has promised us.

May this also happen to us as we look at the reality of our peoples and our Church, with their values, their limitations, their anxieties, and their hopes. While we suffer and rejoice, may we remain in the love of Christ. Looking at our world, may we try to discern its ways with the joyful hope and inexpressible gratitude of believing in Jesus Christ. True Christians cannot be pessimistic; they must live in hope, engender hope, and spread wholesome hope.

Lord Jesus, You are the light for our path. Grant us a courageous and courageous heart to build your Kingdom. Grant us a simple and humble heart to know that You are the one who is building it. Amen.