Our Lord tells us that if we have faith as a grain of mustard-seed we shall be able to say to a mountain, Remove hence, and it will obey us. This was the wonder actually performed by Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus. He prayed that a mountain which left no room for his church to be built might retire somewhat, and one night it did so. He believed that our Lord would accomplish His promise, and because he believed it, he obtained its fulfillment. We all of us are inclined to help those who believe that we shall keep our promises, and are anxious to reward their confidence in us. So too God will never fail those who do not lose their faith in Him.
If so small an amount of faith is able to work such wonders, how is it that we can do so little? It is because we are not thoroughly convinced that God will keep His word when He promises that He will grant all the petitions of those who fear Him, and assures us that all things work together for good for those who love God, and that He loves each one of us with a love far greater than that of a mother for her only son. If we really believed all this we should experience its truth, but our want of faith prevents God from giving us these blessings.
An acorn is very small, but it contains the germ of the magnificent oak. So our faith. (1) It must contain in itself the power of continual growth. This it cannot do unless it is firmly rooted. (2) It must go on steadily increasing as time goes on. Every supernatural act we perform promotes its progress. (3) It must be the initial germ of the Beatific Vision by making God our one end and aim. Is this so with my faith?
- text from Beautiful Pearls of Catholic Truth; it has the Imprimatur of Archbishop Michael Augustine Corrigan, Diocese of New York, 6 October 1897