Faith and Ignatian Indifference

 The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, Memorial of Saint Dominic, Priest, challenge us to examine our complaints, physical and spiritual, and open our minds to resolution through faith in Divine Providence.

Faith and Action

The Reading from the Book of Habakkuk presents Habakkuk’s Second Complaint.

* [1:2–4] The prophet complains about God’s apparent disregard for Judah’s internal evils in language that echoes the preaching of prophets like Amos, Isaiah, and Jeremiah.

* [1:4] The law is numb: because the Lord has been silent, the Law, whether in the form of the scroll found in the Temple in the time of Josiah (2 Kgs 22) or in the form of divine instruction given by priests and prophets, has proved ineffective and so appeared to be cold, unreceptive, and powerless. For the Law to be credible, the Lord must see to it that the wicked are punished and the just rewarded.

* [1:5–7] Habakkuk interprets the Babylonian defeat of Egypt at Carchemish (605 B.C.) as the answer to his complaint: the Lord will send the Chaldean empire against Judah as punishment for their sins.

* [1:11] The primary aim of military campaigns by ancient Near Eastern rulers was usually the gathering of spoils and the collection of tribute rather than the annexation of territory. However, in the eighth century B.C., the Assyrians began to administer many conquered territories as provinces.

* [1:12–2:1] Appointed them for judgment: this complaint is directed against the violent Babylonians, the very nation God chose to punish Judah.

* [1:12] Rock: an ancient title celebrating the Lord’s power and fidelity; cf. Dt 32:4; Is 26:4; 30:29; Ps 18:3, 32, 47; 95:1.

* [1:15] He: the Babylonian king (cf. vv. 6, 13), who easily conquers other nations and treats them as objects for his entertainment and enrichment.

* [1:16] He makes sacrifices to his net: the leader attributes victory to the military weapons he wields; he and his weapons have won victory, not any god. (Habakkuk, Chapter 1 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 9 proclaims the rescue of the helpless poor from their enemies.

* [Psalms 9–10] Ps 9 and Ps 10 in the Hebrew text have been transmitted as separate poems but they actually form a single acrostic poem and are so transmitted in the Greek and Latin tradition. Each verse of the two Psalms begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet (though several letters have no corresponding stanza). The Psalm states loosely connected themes: the rescue of the helpless poor from their enemies, God’s worldwide judgment and rule over the nations, the psalmist’s own concern for rescue (Ps 9:14–15). (Psalms, PSALM 9 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of Matthew presents the Healing of a Boy with a Demon.

* [17:14–20] Matthew has greatly shortened the Marcan story (Mk 9:14–29). Leaving aside several details of the boy’s illness, he concentrates on the need for faith, not so much on the part of the boy’s father (as does Mark, for Matthew omits Mk 9:22b–24) but on that of his own disciples whose inability to drive out the demon is ascribed to their little faith (Mt 17:20).

* [17:15] A lunatic: this description of the boy is peculiar to Matthew. The word occurs in the New Testament only here and in Mt 4:24 and means one affected or struck by the moon. The symptoms of the boy’s illness point to epilepsy, and attacks of this were thought to be caused by phases of the moon.

* [17:17] Faithless and perverse: so Matthew and Luke (Lk 9:41) against Mark’s faithless (Mk 9:19). The Greek word here translated perverse is the same as that in Dt 32:5 LXX, where Moses speaks to his people. There is a problem in knowing to whom the reproach is addressed. Since the Matthean Jesus normally chides his disciples for their little faith (as in Mt 17:20), it would appear that the charge of lack of faith could not be made against them and that the reproach is addressed to unbelievers among the Jews. However in Mt 17:20b (if you have faith the size of a mustard seed), which is certainly addressed to the disciples, they appear to have not even the smallest faith; if they had, they would have been able to cure the boy. In the light of Mt 17:20b the reproach of Mt 17:17 could have applied to the disciples. There seems to be an inconsistency between the charge of little faith in Mt 17:20a and that of not even a little in Mt 17:20b.

* [17:18] The demon came out of him: not until this verse does Matthew indicate that the boy’s illness is a case of demoniacal possession.

* [17:20] The entire verse is an addition of Matthew who (according to the better attested text) omits the reason given for the disciples’ inability in Mk 9:29. Little faith: see note on Mt 6:30. Faith the size of a mustard seed…and it will move: a combination of a Q saying (cf. Lk 17:6) with a Marcan saying (cf. Mk 11:23). (Matthew, CHAPTER 17 | USCCB, n.d.)

Margo Minnich comments that the world teaches us to value self-sufficiency, control, and accomplishment. However, Ignatian spirituality calls us to humility and the recognition that we are reliant on God.

This Gospel also reminds us of the importance of Ignatian indifference. St. Ignatius teaches that we should not cling to health over sickness, success over failure, or comfort over hardship if our ultimate desire is to serve and glorify God. Faith requires letting go of the illusion that we can control everything ourselves. It calls us to surrender our attachments and trust that God is present even in weakness, suffering, and uncertainty. Admitting powerlessness is not defeat; it is the beginning of deeper reliance on God’s grace.

These readings challenge us to ask ourselves: Where do we rely too heavily on our own strength instead of God’s? What mountains in our lives feel impossible to move and how can faith help us to face those challenges? Christ reminds us that faith is about trusting completely in the One for whom all things are possible. Through even the smallest seed of faith, God can transform our hearts and lead us through every challenge. (Minnich, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “Faith as a grain of mustard seed,” by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD). 

"The mountains here spoken of, in my opinion, are the hostile powers that have their being in a flood of great wickedness, such as are settled down, so to speak, in some souls of various people. But when someone has total faith, such that he no longer disbelieves in anything found in holy Scripture and has faith like that of Abraham, who so believed in God to such a degree that his faith was reckoned to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6), then he has all faith like a grain of mustard seed. Then such a man will say to this mountain - I mean in this case the deaf and dumb spirit in him who is said to be epileptic - 'Move from here to another place.' It will move. This means it will move from the suffering person to the abyss. The apostle, taking this as his starting point, said with apostolic authority, 'If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains' (1 Corinthians 13:2). For he who has all faith - which is like a grain of mustard seed - moves not just one mountain but also more just like it. And nothing will be impossible for the person who has so much faith. Let us examine also this statement: 'This kind is not cast out except through prayer and fasting' (Mark 9:29). If at any time it is necessary that we should be engaged in the healing of one suffering from such a disorder, we are not to adjure nor put questions nor speak to the impure spirit as if it heard. But [by] devoting ourselves to prayer and fasting, we may be successful as we pray for the sufferer, and by our own fasting we may thrust out the unclean spirit from him." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 13.7.19) (Schwager, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler shares that Habakkuk, who like Job, questions the motives and actions of God. Why pagans who do not worship God yet He allows them to do terrible things as in Job who asked God why innocent people suffer. Job, at the end of the book declares “I understand that I don’t understand” or Habakkuk concludes we just have to wait until the Lord acts. In Matthew an epileptic is presented to Jesus to be healed and Jesus drives the “demon” out. In Jesus' time illness was related to demoniac possession. Why the apostles were not able to heal the demon was because of little faith. We understand faith as an act of total trust, a mustard seed that can move mountains in care, trust and love. Friar Jude notes that we have stopped trusting in modern life and have become cynical at times. We have to again trust the Love of God.

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 17:14-20 comments that we all have our own “mustard seed” of faith. We received it when we were baptized, and it has grown, thanks to our families and those who have taught us the faith.

So if you want your faith to grow, nourish it well, and ask the Spirit to help you put it into action. If you have an “impossible” coworker, treat them with kindness and trust that the Lord will soften their hearts. If a loved one is sick, let your faith keep you connected to the Lord and at peace. Even more, believe in the Lord’s power to heal as you pray for them.

If we keep acting in faith, we will see miracles, both big and small. We’ll see the Lord work in situations that seem impossible. The mustard seed in our hearts will begin to grow into a mighty tree, and we will bear marvelous fruit.

“Thank you, Lord, for the awesome gift of faith!” (Meditation on Matthew 17:14-20, n.d.)

Father Richard Rohr, OFM, reflects on when a friend suffered an unexpected loss, cancer survivor Kate Bowler offered her a paradoxical message of suffering and joy.

But I know about the joy that persists, even though it might seem like temporary insanity.  

I looked at my friend … and I could see how impossible joy felt to her. In fact, not long ago, I would not have believed in joy either. It’s strange to say it like that—but I believe in joy. We can’t mistake it for anything less than what it is: one of the most powerful ways we experience the deepest and most healing forms of gratitude, delight, and hope. It is a kind of transcendence; joy is a glimmer of love and forgiveness and wholeness that lifts us out of reality for a moment and gives us back to ourselves, anew….

In the many chambers of our beating hearts are reservoirs for joy.

“You will hear the music,” I said to my friend. “I swear you will hear the music.” (Rohr, n.d.)

We seek the guidance of the Spirit as we explore the practice of Ignatian Indifference that proposes we will find joy and love of God in all the circumstances of life.

References

Habakkuk, Chapter 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings, Audio and Video Every Morning | USCCB. Retrieved August 8, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/habakkuk/1?12 

Matthew, CHAPTER 17 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings, Audio and Video Every Morning | USCCB. Retrieved August 8, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/17?14 

Meditation on Matthew 17:14-20. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved August 8, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/08/07/1640975/ 

Minnich, M. (n.d.). Daily Reflection August 8, 2026 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved August 8, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-august-8-2026 

Psalms, PSALM 9 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 8, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/9? 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved August 8, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/job-and-the-mystery-of-suffering-weekly-summary/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Nothing Will Be Impossible to You. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved August 8, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Glory Love and Law

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, the Memorial of Saint Dominic, challenge us to expand our understanding of the action of God that is expressed to humanity through our imperfect body and imagination.

Imagination and Revelation

The reading from the Prophet Ezekiel is the Vision of God on the Cherubim.

* [1:26] Looked like a human being: the God who transcends the powers of the human imagination is pictured here in the likeness of an enthroned human king. (Ezekiel, CHAPTER 1, n.d.)

Psalm 148 praises God’s Universal Glory.

* [Psalm 148] A hymn inviting the beings of heaven (Ps 148:1–6) and of earth (Ps 148:7–14) to praise God. The hymn does not distinguish between inanimate and animate (and rational) nature. (Psalms, PSALM 148, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus again foretells His Death and Resurrection and addresses payment of the Temple Tax.

* [17:24–27] Like Mt 14:28–31 and Mt 16:16b–19, this episode comes from Matthew’s special material on Peter. Although the question of the collectors concerns Jesus’ payment of the temple tax, it is put to Peter. It is he who receives instruction from Jesus about freedom from the obligation of payment and yet why it should be made. The means of doing so is provided miraculously. The pericope deals with a problem of Matthew’s church, whether its members should pay the temple tax, and the answer is given through a word of Jesus conveyed to Peter. Some scholars see here an example of the teaching authority of Peter exercised in the name of Jesus (see Mt 16:19). The specific problem was a Jewish Christian one and may have arisen when the Matthean church was composed largely of that group.

Nancy Shirley comments that similarly to St. Ignatius, St. Dominic recognized that the conversion of others required action and being a role model. She shares a wonderful /legend about St. Dominic.

Legend has it that Dominic saw the sinful world threatened by God’s anger but saved by the intercession of Mary, who pointed out to her Son two figures: One was Dominic himself, the other a stranger. In church the next day he saw a ragged beggar enter—the man in the vision. He went up to him, embraced him and said, “You are my companion and must walk with me. If we hold together, no earthly power can withstand us.” The beggar was Francis of Assisi. The meeting of the two founders is commemorated twice a year, when on their respective feast days Dominicans and Franciscans celebrate Mass in each other’s churches and afterward sit at the same table “to eat the bread which for seven centuries has never been wanting” (Butler’s Lives of the Saints). (Shirley, n.d.)

 Don Schwager comments that “Jesus speaks of his death and resurrection,“ by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD).

"I think we have an obligation to examine this, too: that Jesus was delivered into the hands of men, not by men into the hands of men but by powers to whom the Father delivered his Son on behalf of us all. In the very act of being delivered and coming under the power of those to whom he was delivered, he "destroyed him who had the power of death." For "through death he destroyed him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and delivered all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 13.8) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 17:22-27 comments that Jeus knew that the apostles had to experience his resurrection in order to truly understand it. In a similar way, there are some situations that we just have to live through before we can see, with hindsight, how Jesus was with us.

So yes, some things take time. They also take the Holy Spirit. It was the Spirit who turned the disciples’ grief into joy on Easter Sunday, and it’s the Spirit who will help us whenever we feel overwhelmed with grief (John 20:22). He will give us not only the grace to endure trials, but also the grace to believe that no matter what we are facing, there will be a resurrection. We may not see it right away; we may even question our faith at times. But Jesus remains faithful and true. He will always give us new opportunities to start again, to die to sin and rise to new life with him. It’s for us to experience!

“Holy Spirit, show me the power of Jesus’ resurrection today!” (Meditation on Matthew 17:22-27, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler explains the exile of Ezekiel to Babylon and the thought that the mentally ill may have been especially touched by God. Prophets are often not as we expect. Friar Jude reminds us of Jesus' connection to Daniel 7 and the Suffering Servant of Isaiah as he notes Jesus' authority of Nature as he resolves the payment of the Temple tax.

Franciscan Media comments that St. Dominic's ideal, and that of his Order, was to organically link a life with God, study, and prayer in all forms, with a ministry of salvation to people by the word of God. His ideal: contemplata tradere: “to pass on the fruits of contemplation” or “to speak only of God or with God.”

The Dominican ideal, like that of all religious communities, is for the imitation, not merely the admiration, of the rest of the Church. The effective combining of contemplation and activity is the vocation of truck driver Smith as well as theologian Aquinas. Acquired contemplation is the tranquil abiding in the presence of God, and is an integral part of any full human life. It must be the wellspring of all Christian activity. (Saint Dominic, n.d.)

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, describes how Christianity’s distrust of the body originates not from the Bible, but from Greek philosophy. Fr Richard’s brilliant Franciscan history and liturgy professor, Father Larry Landini (1935–2005), may have given the best explanation for why so many Christians seem to be ashamed and afraid of the body. In 1969, after four years studying church history, Father Larry offered these final words: “Just remember, on the practical level, the Christian Church was much more influenced by Plato than it was by Jesus.”

For Plato, body and soul were incompatible enemies; matter and spirit were at deep odds with one another. Yet for Jesus, there is no animosity between body and soul. In fact, this is the heart of Jesus’ healing message and of the incarnation itself. Jesus, in whom “the Word became flesh” (John 1:14), was fully human, even as he was fully divine, with both body and spirit operating as one. (Rohr, n.d.)

We journey in relationship with God and people as the Spirit operates in our piety, study, and action to reveal truth, beauty, and fullness of life.

References

Ezekiel, CHAPTER 1. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 8, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/ezekiel/1?2 

Matthew, CHAPTER 17. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 8, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/17?22 

Meditation on Matthew 17:22-27. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved August 8, 2022, from https://wau.org/meditations/2022/08/08/464440/ 

Psalms, PSALM 148. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 8, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/148?1 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Body and Spirit as One. Daily Meditations Archive: 2022. Retrieved August 8, 2022, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/body-and-spirit-as-one-2022-08-08/ 

Saint Dominic. (n.d.). Franciscan Media. Retrieved August 8, 2022, from https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-dominic 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Not to Give Offense. Daily Scripture net. Retrieved August 8, 2022, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2022&date=aug8 

Shirley, N. (n.d.). Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries. Creighton University OnlineMinistries. Retrieved August 8, 2022, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/080822.html