Failure is vital

Excellent reflection by: Cristina delos Reyes

Jesus tells us in the gospel last Sunday that we servants must fulfill to God’s will through faith and gratitude. We do this by understanding our obligation and accepting its reality. Jesus has a specific role for all of us who believe in him. The only thing we have to do is to listen to Him, only then will we be able to fully comprehend our vocation.

Having faith the size of a mustard seed means that as long as we have the tiniest bit of hope in God, we will be able to move mountains. The mustard seed grows, and surprisingly isn’t a tree at all but is classified as an evergreen shrub. The tree grows to about 20 feet high and has an irregular shape. It is nearly as wide as it is tall. My understanding of why Jesus chose to use a mustard seed in his teachings and not any other kind of plant is because even though it has a low growth rate, it emerges to be one of the biggest shrubs there are. ‘It is nearly as wide as it is tall’ signifies that, like faith, it is very stable once it is at its maximum height.

“If you have never failed, you’ve never lived” Faith is one way to success as well, not only in having faith in God, but having faith in yourself. Many, if not all, people who have succeeded in life had to suffer brutally like all of us. The only difference between them and us is they didn’t quit. Yes, it seems so much easier to stop, but once we have faith in ourselves, God, and other people too, it will be so much easier to reach our goals in life.

This is what the gospel challenges me to do, to never quit. God has blessed me with so much talents and I’m very fortunate to have such good education, a great family, and amazing friends. I know that there are more people who aren’t as well off, but are more determined than I am. I know they’re exhausting all they have in order to have a bright future and I’m probably just wasting mine. This gospel teaches me that I must start working hard and being faithful so that when the time comes, I will be able to say, “Lord, I have done what I was obliged to do.”