"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience," (Col 3:12)

Reading 1 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."

Gospel 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."

In today's first reading, God gives his people the most important of all commandments, the greatest of all commandments, which speaks of love. On love, God bases everything in our lives: His relationship with us and our relationships with other people. Notice, however, that immediately following this commandment are other important words that we should not overlook, words that say that we are to beware lest we forget our God who brought us out of the slavery, the slavery of sin for us, and for the Israelites of Egyptian captivity. Beware lest you forget your God, lest this life and what is connected with this life become a god to you. Beware that you do not lack what is most important: love, because without this love it is impossible to imagine a relationship with God. We must constantly remind ourselves of this love, because if we forget about love for God, something terrible will happen, that is, our spiritual death will occur, sin that will kill God's life in us and lead us back into slavery. This is perfectly shown in today's Gospel, in which Jesus heals an epileptic. It's not about the disease itself, but what the disease was doing to this man. It says that he often falls into fire and into water, that is, he is unstable, shaken, the life of such a man is a life torn, torn between sin and grace. In such proceedings, a person cannot fully, or maybe does not want to choose the right side. As we can see in this Gospel, such a state of soul does not please Jesus, who says few difficult words to a man, and through this man also to us. O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Literally, we can translate: O people without faith, without trust, inverted. We can ask ourselves: what is missing when you turn your back on someone and lose trust in that person? This results in a lack of love and is a consequence of the rejection of love. Jesus' concern for us is, first of all, concern to keep God's life in us and remain in God's love. Jesus gave his life for this love, suffered on the cross, died for our salvation, showing us amazing grace and huge amounts of mercy. All God wants from us is that we try to remember this love, invoke this love, and live this love every day. So that in the disturbance of this world, which causes epilepsy of our souls, we remember that God loves us and do everything possible according to our strength to repay Him with our love for His infinite love. Even if we have little, even if our faith is like a mustard seed, God is able to develop it, sustain it and make something wonderful out of it. However, for this to happen, we must believe and trust God's love, we must constantly maintain this love in ourselves through prayer, the sacraments, and a good life. If we lack this, if we direct the eyes of our heart to something else, including putting our trust and love, then we will fail God Himself, who in His love has not failed us and has fulfilled His promises, and constantly fulfills them every day, giving us His grace by forgiving us our sins, being patient with our weaknesses. Therefore, let us not return to our Egypt, to our slavery, let us not look for love where there is none or where there is only an illusion, but let us direct all our love towards him, towards Christ, who does not withdraw his love for each of us.

Father Marcin Cwierz, OSPPE

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"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience," (Col 3:12)