From the Gospel of Luke    41 

Money in the hands of those dedicated to God should be quickly used to aid 

those in need. May the Lord rebuke all those who break their vow of 

poverty. 

Increase Our Faith (Luke 17:5 6) 

     The apostles said to the Lord, `Increase our faith!' And the Lord said, `If 

you had faith as a grain of mustard seed,  you could say to this sycamine 

tree,  Be rooted up, and be planted in the sea,  and it would obey you.'   

(Luke 17:5 6). 

    Jesus is not exaggerating. He is speaking the truth plainly. In these sinful 

times, it is difficult to see the power of faith. But  in future years, it will be 

clear that Jesus' saying is not merely a metaphor about what faith can 

accomplish, it is literally true. Faith can accomplish what would otherwise 

be impossible. 

Jesus Prophesies His Own Death (Luke 18:31 34) 

     And taking the twelve, he said to them, `Behold, we are going up to 

Jerusalem, and everything that is written of the Son of man by the prophets 

will be accomplished. For he will be delivered to the Gentiles, and he will be 

mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon, they will scourge him and kill 

him, and on the third day he will rise.' But they understood none of these 

things; this saying was hid from them, and they did not grasp what was 

said.  (Luke 18:31 34). 

    Jesus told His Apostles that He must suffer and die. Jesus was telling His 

Apostles about His Passion and Crucifixion (which was about to happen). 

He was telling them about the future. But the Apostles did not understand 

His meaning. In this passage, Jesus, through the Holy Scriptures, is also 

telling the Church about the Church's future, but many in the Church do not 

understand. 

    God's Holy Infallible Scripture has made it very clear that the Church will 

suffer its own Passion and Crucifixion. Though in every age some Christians 

suffer and are persecuted, yet at one particular time in the future, the Church 

will suffer extraordinarily. Jesus' Passion and Crucifixion is a foreshadowing 

of the Church's Passion and Crucifixion. 

    The Church's Passion and Crucifixion is described by the prophets of the 

Old Testament and by the book of Revelation. The Gospel accounts of 

Jesus' Passion and Crucifixion are both a description of Jesus' suffering and 

a prophetic description the Church's future suffering. The suffering of the 

Church is an imitation of the suffering of Christ Jesus. The Church must be 

Crucified even as Christ Jesus was Crucified. But, like the Apostles in this