Down to the Roots

Have you ever taken a plant out of its pot? What did you see? Roots. Lots of roots. Those roots are what gave rise to the beautiful plant.

If we do not water and fertilize the plant, its roots will wither. Without the roots, the plant will die. Likewise, without prayer and faith, our spiritual life will wither. When Peter exclaimed that the fig tree had withered (Mk. 11:20-26), Jesus responded with “Have faith in God.” What could have caused the tree to wither? Perhaps a wrong understanding of who Jesus was and His mission. Our Lord was inviting them to a deeper faith, a faith that was rooted in Him. To have faith in God means to know and believe deeply that Our God loves us and wants to give us all that we need, and that He indeed does. Do we believe that? We have faith because Jesus first had faith in His Father. Our life must be rooted in our faith in Jesus Christ, which is nourished by prayer and the sacraments.

What are some of the things in our lives that cause our spiritual life to wither? Lack of time? Past hurt? Unforgiveness? Let us take a few minutes today and bring whatever is in our hearts to the Lord who tells us, “I tell you whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it shall be yours.” Our faith must be down to the roots and grafted onto Jesus Christ for then unlike the fig tree, we will not wither but instead thrive and become fully alive.