By Msgr. Joseph Prior • Posted October 3, 2025

(See the readings for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time)

Risotto Milanese is a popular dish in the Lombardy region of Italy. In a certain sense it is simple to prepare. Only a few ingredients are used: rice, broth, parmesan cheese and saffron, which defines the dish. The saffron spice is harvested from a crocus flower. When it is in bloom, delicate strands in the inner part of the bloom are carefully taken out by hand. These strands are a rich maroon color; when dried they become very delicate.

Needless to say, because of the care needed to grow and harvest this spice, it is very expensive, probably the most expensive of all the spices. Some say, pound for pound, it is more valuable than gold. A very small amount, a pinch or two, is added to boiling broth. The flavor and color are then spread through the broth. The broth is then slowly added to the rice a ladle at a time. As the rice absorbs the broth it takes on the flavor and the color and becomes a bright yellow-gold.

I was thinking of this when hearing Jesus comparing faith to the mustard seed. Something so small – whether the mustard seed or a pinch of saffron – can have a great effect; it can grow to a large bush or it can transform simple rice into a rich meal. Jesus’ point is that faith transforms our lives in a powerful way. He goes on to say that it can move mountains.

The transformative power of faith is seen in ordinary life. We see it give meaning and direction to our lives. It draws us into a relationship with the God who created, redeemed and sanctifies us. It fills us with joy, hope and peace. These can be especially important in dealing with the brokenness of the world and even our own brokenness. We see its effects when people help one another, show compassion and pity, and when forgiveness is offered. We certainly see the power of faith in a dramatic way when tragedy hits or a large hurdle is placed in one’s life.

Over the years I’ve met a large number of people who have lost a child to death. The grief and sorrow the loss brings is unfathomable. In many conversations with parents who have faced this loss, the simple one-word answer to “how did you get through it?” is “faith.” I often think of this when Jesus says that faith can move mountains.

Faith, however, is not just to help us face tragedy. It helps us to lead a good life. Jesus, in proclaiming the Kingdom of God, offers an invitation to place our faith in him. In doing so, we actively choose to have God at the center of our lives. The one who gives us life itself leads us and draws us ever deeper into the life-giving relationship of love. He leads us to live life with meaning and purpose.

There are many ways that Jesus describes our relationship with him and the Father. Through union with Christ we become adopted children of God so that we can call God “abba,” “Father.” Just before his arrest and passion, Jesus tells the apostles: “I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father” (John 15:15).

The relationship between God and us is rich, so there are many ways to describe it. Another powerful allegory for this relationship is that of a servant and master.

Jesus uses this image in this Sunday’s Gospel when speaking about faith. From our vantage point, we look at ourselves as the servant. The attitude that this image fosters is that all we do in living our lives is the work of a servant who sees everything he or she has, including life itself, as a gift from God, the master.

Living the Christian life, while it is joyful and rewarding beyond our imagination, can also be challenging. This is especially true when we do not have cultural support or when we are called to embrace suffering. Cultivating trust in this disposition will allow us to say, as Jesus notes, “We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.”

It’s interesting to note that, in another place, Jesus uses the same master/servant image in this fashion. The overall context is that of vigilance for the master’s return. Vigilance, in this sense, is keeping the faith until the end.

Jesus describes servants who are awaiting the master’s return from a wedding. They gird their loins and light their lamps so they are ready. Jesus says: “Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants” (Luke 12:35ff). In this image the reward is that the master treats the servants as honored guests.

St. Paul, in the Second Letter to Timothy, urges us to live the life of faith in these words: “I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands. For God did not give us the spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control.”

“Stirring up” the faith that lies within us empowers us to endure the hardships of life and to remain faithful so that we can continue to live life in the Kingdom, loving as we have been loved, forgiving as we have been forgiven, proclaiming the Truth who is Christ Jesus, caring for the “widow and orphan,” sharing compassion for the sick and dying, encouraging the down-trodden, loving the unloved and forgiving the unforgivable.

For just as a pinch of saffron can transform simple rice into a delicacy, faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains.

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Msgr. Joseph Prior is pastor of Our Lady of Grace Parish, Penndel, and a former professor of Sacred Scripture and rector of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. Read more reflections by Msgr. Joseph Prior here.