Moving Mountains

Asking God for the audacity of faith to move men and women

08/11/2018

Matthew 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."

Once a month Fr. Stephen and I visit our home-bound parishioners, those who cannot come to Mass, and we take them Holy Communion. They are thrilled to see and receive Jesus but they are very sad they cannot make it to Mass themselves. To cheer them up a bit, I tell them an old proverb: “If Mohammed cannot come to the mountain, then the mountain must come to Mohammed.” That means when they cannot come to the mountain of the Mass, then the Mass will come to them, or at least Holy Communion will. That cheers them up a bit, but they’re not sure I should be mixing Christianity with Islam.

That proverb was originally the reverse, as quoted by the English philosopher Francis Bacon in 1625. He wrote: “If the hill will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet will go to the hill.” Bacon was referring to an apocryphal anecdote wherein Mohammed commanded a mountain to come to him. But unable to move the mountain, he ended up having to move himself and go to it. The story seems to disparage Mohammed’s lack of faith because he could not move a mountain. But that criticism overlooks the fact of the faith of his followers. Whether or not you agree with the tenets of Islam, you have to admire the zeal of Muslims. The fact that a believer is willing to die for his faith – not that they are willing to kill for their faith, don’t misunderstand me – that willingness to die for one’s faith is deeply admirable to me. That kind of faith makes me think of our home-bound Catholics, who would give anything to make it to Mass on Sunday. The proverb about Mohammed and the mountain is not really about moving mountains but about the faith that moves men. But there I go again comparing Christianity and Islam – my apologies.

Jesus also wants his disciples to have deeper faith and so he tells them about moving mountains. Our Lord teaches: “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.” I think we might miss Jesus’ point if we focus too much on the mountain, and not enough on man. In other words, the real point is not about the force to move a mountain, but about the faith to move a man. And any wife who has a lazy husband at home will tell you it’s a lot easier to move a mountain than to move a man! Jesus’ point is that his disciples must become more and more like him and think like him and act like him and feel like him and even breathe like him, all founded on faith, that is, entirely devoted to the Father and his will. Once they put their faith first, moving mountains will be a cinch.

Indeed, that is the whole project and purpose of Christianity, namely, to become people of faith. To live for our faith, and if necessary to die for our faith, just like Jesus did every second of his existence. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches in no. 460 (quoting St. Athanasius): “For the Son of God became man so that we might become God.” To be utterly absorbed by faith makes us more like Jesus, the One who made the mountains, and therefore, moving them would be considerably easier.

Today ask God to give you a certain audacity of faith, the faith to move mountains. That doesn’t mean you drive to Mt. Magazine, stretch out your hand and command it to plunge into the Arkansas River. Rather, ask for the faith that moves not mountains but men and women, beginning with yourself. Try to be motivated by faith in all you do, in every word you say, even let your breathing and walking and eating and sleeping, indeed your living and even your dying, be touched by faith. Do everything as a believer and you’ll become slowly more and more like Jesus, the God who made the mountains, the God who became man so men could become God.

When your life is that entirely transformed by faith you will think it’s child-play to move a mountain, and spend your time instead trying to move men.

Praised be Jesus Christ!