Dear Friends,
Since Fr. Jeff was on retreat this past week, he asked me to write this column for him. But I’m sure this Sunday’s Gospel passage would be one he could very ably comment on: parables of seeds, growth, and harvest, all as illustrations of how the Kingdom of God works.
Fr. Jeff enjoys gardening, but suffered a minor setback last week when his green beans never sprouted. With no lack of good soil, water, or sun, he suspects the culprit to be bad seed.
When the Word of God is the seed, as Jesus portends in today’s Gospel, we need never worry about it going bad. We need only concern ourselves with finding it a suitable place to grow. That development, however, mystifies. We don’t know exactly how a seed that looks dead can, day after day, yield blade, then ear, and then the grain ready for harvest.
We marvel too, at how small a package the Kingdom may come. Like a mustard seed grown into a tree, God’s Word may at first appear trivial and insignificant, but given a chance, will surpass expectations and even provide comfort and protection for others in need.
Besides the obvious implication that we should prepare ourselves as best we can for the Kingdom to grow and expand in and through us, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Jesus is here foreshadowing the unpredictable and bewildering fecundity of his death and Resurrection. What appeared dead was planted, but didn’t stay dead; He arose, and his life flooded into the vine and branches of his mystical body, the Church.
As we spend the summer in God’s service, let’s allow the many fields and gardens now maturing and ripening, remind us of God’s Word and its power, as well as how we may better prepare to receive it
.
Also, for those who haven’t heard, I’m to become the pastor of Mother of Dolors parish in Vandalia and St. Joseph’s parish in Ramsey, as well as the Catholic chaplain to the Correctional facility in Vandalia on July 1, 2021. After the bishop told me my new assignment, I called my parents and told them I was going to prison. They didn’t think it was as funny as I did.
Although I am very much looking forward to the joys and challenges there, please know of my sincere gratitude for every kindness you’ve shown me here at Blessed Sacrament. The encouragement, invitations, classroom visits, meals, and everything else have been heartwarming and well-received. May God bless you, and as Paul Claudel said, may you be worthy of the flame that consumes you.
With gratitude and joy,
Father Seth