This week we
are back to ordinary time in our Sunday liturgies. Believe it or not, it was back in February
when we last saw green as the liturgical color at a Sunday Eucharistic
celebration. Now, we’re already in the
middle of June. We have gotten past the
celebrations of the Blessed Trinity and the Body and Blood of Christ, and now
we are hearing Jesus’ teachings about God’s Kingdom.
When we think
of God’s kingdom, when we think of the glimpses of his kingdom that we have
here on earth, we are trying to describe something that is so difficult to imagine. I think about the photos that I brought back
from my pilgrimage in Spain, of how they are so wonderful in helping me to
remember some of the experiences I had there, but how they also just capture a
small glimpse of all the different dimensions of that experience. I remember leaving early one morning from the
city of Santo Domingo de Calzada on the pilgrimage route. I left the town hiking with a man named
Patrick from Calgary, Alberta, Canada in the early morning hours. It was dark, cold, and raining. The only light we had came from our
flashlights, and we had a rather difficult time navigating out of the city back
onto the trail. We walked for over an
hour before the sun came up. And for
just a few moments, as dawn was breaking, the sun lit up a small village that
was in front of us in such a magical way that this quaint village glowed in an
angelic, mystical light. We didn’t
attempt to take a photo of beautiful sight, because such a photo could never
capture the magic of seeing such a moment in the early morning hours on the
pilgrimage trail.
As we try to
get a glimpse of God’s kingdom in today’s readings, we hear a lot of imagery
about plants and trees in describing his kingdom. Ezekiel presents us an image of God taking
off a small sprig from the top of a mighty cedar tree, planting it on a high
and lofty mountain, where the twig will bear fruit and grow mighty in its own
right, where many branches will grow out of it and many birds will find shelter
under those branches. Very bluntly, the
Lord explains that it is he who brings low the high tree, who lifts high the
lowly tree. Ezekiel was proclaiming this
message to the people of Israel who were sent to exile in Babylon, where they
were worried and distraught over their nation’s uncertain future and wondered
if Israel would even survive. It would
be easy for the people of Israel to abandon their faith in God and to put their
faith in human kingdoms and human kings under such circumstances, yet God’s
kingdom is like that little sprig that can grow mightily under God’s
watchfulness and loving care. Yet, we
need to trust God and put our entire faith in Him in order for that to happen.
When we look
at a vision of God’s kingdom, we are to do so not through the normal lens
through which most human beings look out at the world, but we are to do so through
the lens of our faith. Thus, St Paul is able to tell us that we are to walk by
faith, and not by sight. Paul wrote to
the Church at Corinth as it was having growing pains and having a lot of
difficulties. The members of this
community did not have a common vision yet, and they had trouble giving up
their worldly ways. Yet, the kingdom of God is like the seeds sown in the field
that develop into a bountiful harvest as described in today’s Gospel, like the
tiny mustard seed that grows into a huge plant.
Paul tried to give the Corinthians encouragement, telling them to focus
on the important aspects of their faith, to feel the new life that Christ was
calling them to through his death and resurrection.
In our little
Catholic communities up here in the Delta, where we are such a tiny part of the
population, it can feel overwhelming and like an uphill battle. We might see all that is around us, and wonder
if we have the faith to go on. Yet, God
is here with us every step of the way, through our joyful moments and through
the struggles and frustrations that we have as well. With God nurturing us, with God leading us
and guiding us, we are like those little sprigs that are hoping to burst forth
with new life. Perhaps God is calling us
to find new hope in the images he provides to us in today’s holy Scripture, new
hope that will help encourage us and animate us.
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