Eagle's Eye: Faith in God can do miracles

Use the power of discrimination and be guided by the voice of consciousness. Real happiness consists in acquiring wisdom. We have to cultivate good company and cherish faith in God as He alone is their sole protector- Fr Sam Oommen Panackamattam
The apostles said to the Lord, `Increase our faith', so the Lord said, `If you have faith as a mustard seed, mustard is a very tiny, but when it grows it spreads flowers itself and bears fruit, likewise if we have little faith, we can do many things for God. Life is extremely precious, time highly valuable, man's heart tender and his mind is a gifted possession. Though endowed with all faculties, he conducts himself as a mean, ignorant and miserable being. With his power of speech, he can conquer kingdoms, but by its improper use he can also lose all his merits. Through his gentle words, he can acquire friends but by his injudicious utterances, he can become their enemy. Forgetting his divine nature, he gets immersed in worldly pleasures and desires. Not realizing the significance of time, he leads an animal's nature, the Holy Bible also says, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For we have spent enough of our past life time in doing the will of the gentiles when we walked in lewdness, lust, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties an abominable idolatries. But, those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil for which some have strayed away from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows, but you, O Man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, Godliness, faith, love, patience and gentleness. Today faith is being sold, in discount rate to attain Moksha or salvation or eternal life. Many are the salesmen, marketing managers. But remember the scripture says, `not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, let no one deceive you by any means. Hence the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of the devil, with all power, signs and wonders; so hold fast, stand fast and hold the tradition which you were taught.
The mind which is all powerful can see without eyes, listen without ears, speak without a tongue and move without legs. Instead of controlling it, man becomes subordinate to the mind. Use the power of discrimination and be guided by the voice of consciousness. Real happiness consists in acquiring wisdom. We have to cultivate good company and cherish faith in God as He alone is their sole protector. God has provided mankind with numerous methods to realize the goal of life, to ensure a smooth journey here and enjoy peace of mind. There prescribed daily religious exercises are easy to be adopted and can be carried out without much effort. Taking bath early, performing certain minimal acts, visiting holy places and paying obeisance to the Almighty and preceptors are not difficult, observance of austerities is also not rigid. Still some people do not uphold them, though they are intended for their own good. Some even ridicule them and doubt their validity. If god is so powerful, why cannot he change the attitude of such people and make them pious? It is to be noted that their present behaviour is a sequel to their past deeds...good and bad and God does not interfere with their course and so He cannot be described as unkind.
A mother will deny a particular item of food to her child who is sickly and by no stretch of imagination can she be branded as cruel; she is quite aware of her child's needs. God is never partial and knows what one deserves. No one will refuse to welcome the soothing effect of the cool breeze that wafts during spring. But a jackal will be averse and resorts its mischief only during nocturnal hours. There are a few who will not like those who lead a disciplined life, as adherence to one's duties will not be liked by them either due to their laziness or their  antipathy towards well-regulated habits; likewise a thief will regret the rise of full moon; so also some will be apathetic to learn the value of doctrines in the religious literature, the truth in the religious scriptures, the saying of saints and prophets.