I assure you, if you had faith the size of a mustard seed,
you would be able to say to this mountain,
‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move.
Nothing would be impossible for you.

This weekend our Gospel reading is taken again from Matthew’s Gospel and presents the story of the curing of the possessed boy. It would seem that the cure of the boy is not the most important part of the   story. The interaction of Jesus with His disciples seems to be more important.

Think about the interaction. First, we hear that the man had taken his son to the disciples to be cured. Apparently the disciples were performing a variety of miracles. Jesus doesn’t criticize them for attempting to perform miracles. It was apparent that He thought that they would be doing such things.

Second, he kindly chastises them for their lack of faith. It seems, at least from the reported story, that Jesus expected that they would have understood how to accomplish such a miracle.

Finally, Jesus shares with his disciples what is needed to perform miracles. He assures them that they will be able to do all sorts of things if only they have a little bit of faith. The amount of faith only has to be as small as a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds.

So what does this story tell us? It tells us that we will be able to overcome all the challenges that life presents to us if only we have a little bit of faith. Faith makes all the difference in the world.

This is interesting in light of modern psychological research. Research has shown that belief in one’s ability to accomplish something makes all the difference in outcomes. Professional athletes that are coached to believe that they can accomplish victory over their competitors, always do much better and tend to accomplish victory. Believing in oneself and one’s ability is the key to real success.

So, if we believe that we can truly become more like Jesus, we will. Of course we must desire to be like Jesus and realize that accomplishing that task is the true meaning and purpose of life.

We are called to holiness. Believing that we can accomplish this is truly very important.

Paul indicates that, as a disciple, he was able to endure many things because of his faith and belief in Jesus Christ. We can too. It requires, however, belief to make it possible. Remember the words of Jesus: Nothing is impossible if we have faith, even faith as small as a mustard seed.