There is a common saying that a person “has faith that can move mountains.” Despite what Jesus says in today’s Gospel, there are countless people of great faith who have never physically moved a mountain. Perhaps that is because the movement that occurs is not a geographic relocation, but rather a change of perspective within ourselves.
How many times have we prayed for a specific outcome only to have it not happen? This does not mean that God didn’t hear us, or that we didn’t have enough faith. Rather, our faith can make us open to an answer to prayer that looks different than what we wanted. Jesus does not promise that having faith will enable us to perform magic tricks–indeed, a faith based only on specific outcomes is not true faith. Instead, Jesus invites us to have faith in him, promising that even the smallest bit of true faith will have a great impact on our lives.
—The Jesuit Prayer team