Habakkuk looks at the world and cries out:
“How long, O Lord? Violence, destruction, misery everywhere. Why do you let it go on?”

That was 600 years before Christ.
But it could have been written yesterday.

We look at wars and scandals.
We look at our children drifting from the faith.
We look at our own hearts weighed down with sin and discouragement.

And we cry the same: “How long, O Lord?”

And God answers:
“The vision awaits its time. If it delays, wait for it. The just shall live by faith.”

Not by sight. Not by control. Not by having all the answers.
The just shall live by faith.

The apostles feel the same weakness. They turn to Jesus:
“Lord, increase our faith!”

And Jesus replies:
“If you had faith like a mustard seed, you could say to this tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”

Notice: He doesn’t say “You need more.”
He says, “You already have enough.”

Because faith isn’t measured by size.
Faith is measured by trust.

A mustard seed of trust in a mighty God is enough to move mountains.

And Paul tells Timothy:
“Fan into flame the gift of God. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but of power, love, and self-control.”

Faith is not timidity.
Faith is not waiting for proof.
Faith is not frozen fear.

Faith is fire.
Faith is courage.
Faith is serving God, not because we’re strong, but because we trust His strength.

But the fire must be fed.
Like a flame, faith dies if it isn’t fanned.

And this is where St. Carlo Acutis comes in.
A 15-year-old boy. Jeans, trainers, a normal teenager.
But inside him burned a mustard seed of faith — fed, fanned, set aflame.

He used the internet not for vanity but for evangelisation.
He built a website cataloguing Eucharistic miracles because he wanted the world to know: “The Eucharist is my highway to heaven.”

He didn’t wait for old age to be holy.
He didn’t wait for the world to improve before trusting God.
He lived Habakkuk’s cry, the apostles’ plea, Paul’s fire — all as a teenager in the 2000s.

Carlo once said: “We are all born originals, but many die as photocopies.”

What did he mean?
That God plants a seed of faith in each of us — unique, personal, powerful.
But too many never water it.
Too many bury it.
Too many let the world influence them instead of letting Christ sanctify them.

Carlo didn’t do anything “big.”
He went to school. Played football. Loved video games.
But he lived his faith simply and consistently.
That mustard seed grew.

He went to daily Mass. He prayed the Rosary. He loved the poor.
He said: “The Eucharist is the highway to heaven.”
That was his mustard seed — and God made it a tree.

Think about this: Habakkuk lived in chaos, crying “How long?”
The apostles felt weak, crying “Lord, increase our faith!”
Paul told Timothy: “Fan the flame.”

Carlo lived in the same kind of chaos — the noise of our modern world.
But he fanned his flame instead of letting it go out.

He didn’t wait for ideal conditions.
He didn’t say, “I’ll get serious about faith when I’m older.”
He said: “Now. Even small faith now.”

And God used it to touch millions.

So what about us?

• Where are we like Habakkuk, crying “How long?”
• Where are we like the apostles, asking for more faith when Jesus says a mustard seed is enough?
• Where are we like Timothy, needing to fan the flame but afraid of the cost?

Faith is not waiting for perfect circumstances.
Faith is trusting now.

And if a 15-year-old in jeans can live heroic holiness, what excuse do we have?

Faith is not just believing ideas.
Faith is trusting God in practice.

• A mother forgiving when it costs.
• A father leading prayer at the table.
• A teenager saying no to peer pressure.
• A parish choosing welcome over indifference.

Those are mustard seeds.
And God can make them trees.

Jesus ends the Gospel with the parable of servants.
“When you’ve done all you were commanded, say: ‘We are only servants. We have done our duty.’”

Faith is not about bargaining with God.
Not: “I did this, now You owe me.”
Faith is serving because He is Lord.
Faith is trusting that obedience is its own reward.

Carlo lived this. He didn’t seek applause.
He simply obeyed.
He did his duty as a child of God — and that was enough.

Parents — your children don’t need to see perfect saints at home.
They need to see mustard-seed faith lived daily.

Grace before meals. Sunday Mass no matter what. Speaking kindly. Forgiving quickly. That seed in your home will grow into faith in their hearts.

To our young people: you are not too young for holiness.
Don’t wait until you’re 40 or 60.
Don’t wait until it’s easy.

Carlo proved it: sanctity is possible now.
On the football pitch. At the computer. In your school.

Holiness is simply taking your mustard seed and planting it in God.

As a parish, maybe we feel small.
But Jesus says: small is enough.
A mustard seed can move trees.

Carlo didn’t change the world with resources or power.
He changed it with trust.
We can too.

If each of us planted and watered our mustard seed, St Mary’s, St John Bosco, St Edward’s could be a forest of faith.

Habakkuk cried: “How long, O Lord?”
The apostles cried: “Increase our faith!”
Paul cried: “Fan the flame!”
Carlo cried: “The Eucharist is my highway to heaven.”

The answer is the same: Faith. Even small faith. Faith lived now.

So do not wait.
Do not be a photocopy of the world.
Be the original God made you to be.

Plant the seed.
Fan the flame.
Walk the bridge of faith.
Trust the Lord.

Because even a mustard seed of faith is enough to move mountains —
enough to save your soul —
enough to make you a saint.