“I will take from the crest of the cedar… tear off a tender shoot and plant it…” (Ezekiel 17:22). “It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown…is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth…but springs up and becomes the largest of plants…” (Mark 4:31-32).

 

Today’s scripture readings invite us to reflect on the mystery of growth. The promise of a shoot being planted was made to the Israelites sitting in captivity. They asked, “Is God powerful enough to bring that shoot to a majestic cedar?” The Christians of Corinth longing for their true home in heaven begin to lose courage and ask how they are to live here below. And Jesus prepares his disciples by telling them the journey will be long, and the results of the seed may not even be visible, but trust is needed.

 

We look at our lives today and ask questions as well. If the kingdom is among us, why are war, violence, and hatred still so much a part of our lives? If so many of us pray the “Our Father,” why are we so divided in our church and country, seemingly incapable of living as brothers and sisters? If we took care to plant seeds of faith in our children, why do they seem to have given up the faith? Like the Corinthians, we are asked: “to walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:6).

 

We are told that “to his own disciples he explained everything in private” (Mark 4:34). Saint Peter Julian encourages us to allow Christ to inform our hearts. “Your part is to withdraw with Jesus in your heart where he is inspiring your soul, speaking to it in an interior language which love alone hears and understands” (CO 861).

 

How does the Eucharist empower me to walk by faith?

 

Mary Muehle

Associate of the Blessed Sacrament

Saint Paschal Baylon Church

Cleveland, Ohio