Tobit 1:3; 2:1-8 / Mark 12:1-12
If someone were to ask us to state our firmest beliefs, what statement(s) of faith would we make?
Will one of our statements be this : I believe in God who loves me more than I can ever imagine and who will never desert me or leave me alone.
The character in the 1st reading, Tobit, may have made such a statement when times were calm and peaceful.
But when he and his people were deported to Assyria to become slaves and with no possible hope of ever returning to his homeland, did he waver from his belief in God?
As much as most of the Jews in Assyria abandoned their faith, Tobit kept his faith in God as shown by his act of faith and charity in burying the dead as we heard in the 1st reading.
So faith is not to be taken for granted or kept only when times are good and the sailing is smooth.
When faith is put to the test, then that's when we show our love for God.
In the gospel, we heard a parable of ungratefulness and greed.
It 's a classical case of asking for God's providence and yet when it comes to giving it back in deeds of love, our selfishness and ungratefulness springs up and we fail in our love for God.
Let us reflect on our statements of faith. May we say what we mean, and mean what we say.