The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to meditate on the growth of our relationship with God and others.
Old growth and full life
The reading from the Prophet Ezekiel tells that Israel is exalted at last.
* [17:22–23] The Lord will undo the actions of the Babylonian king by rebuilding the Davidic dynasty so the nations realize that only Israel’s God can restore a people’s destiny.1
Psalm 92 gives thanksgiving for vindication.
* [92:14] Planted: the just are likened to trees growing in the sacred precincts of the Temple, which is often seen as the source of life and fertility because of God’s presence, cf. Ps 36:9, 10; Ez 47:1–12.2
The reading from the Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians declares we walk by faith, not by sight to our future destiny.
* [5:6–9] Tension between present and future is expressed by another spatial image, the metaphor of the country and its citizens. At present we are like citizens in exile or far away from home. The Lord is the distant homeland, believed in but unseen (2 Cor 5:7).3
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus teaches the parable of the growing seed and of the mustard seed.
* [4:26–29] Only Mark records the parable of the seed’s growth. Sower and harvester are the same. The emphasis is on the power of the seed to grow of itself without human intervention (Mk 4:27). Mysteriously it produces blade and ear and full grain (Mk 4:28). Thus the kingdom of God initiated by Jesus in proclaiming the word develops quietly yet powerfully until it is fully established by him at the final judgment (Mk 4:29); cf. Rev 14:15.4
Nicky Santos, S.J. comments that the parable of the growing seed and the parable of the mustard seed both call to mind God’s grace in our lives and in the building of the kingdom of God; God’s grace that moves mysteriously in ways that we cannot comprehend or grasp. We plant seeds though our words and actions, but we need to remember that God is in control and not us. We are collaborators but it is God who is the builder.
We might be frustrated and even discouraged by continued racism, oppression, hatred, violence, intolerance and so on but we cannot and should not give up. If we are truly committed to living out the gospel values in our lives, then even though we might not see the results, it is possible that we have no idea of how our words and actions are germinating and helping the kingdom of God to grow. Today's readings encourage us to continue to be faithful and to trust in God who cares and loves us deeply.5
Don Schwager quotes “God gave us what was most precious,” by Isaac of Nineveh (a Syrian monk, teacher, and bishop), 613-700 A.D.
"The sum of all is God, the Lord of all, who from love of his creatures has delivered his Son to death on the cross. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son for it. Not that he was unable to save us in another way, but in this way it was possible to show us his abundant love abundantly, namely, by bringing us near to him by the death of his Son. If he had anything more dear to him, he would have given it to us, in order that by it our race might be his. And out of his great love he did not even choose to urge our freedom by compulsion, though he was able to do so. But his aim was that we should come near to him by the love of our mind. And our Lord obeyed his Father out of love for us." (excerpt from ASCETICAL HOMILY 74.28)6
The Word Among Us Meditation on 2 Corinthians 5:6-10 comments we shouldn’t burden ourselves worrying about whether we have done enough good works to earn a spot in heaven. Jesus has already saved us through his “one righteous act”—the shedding of his blood on the cross (Romans 5:18). Our good works are the way in which we respond to the love that God has already shown us.
At Mass today, place any fears you might have about Jesus’ judgment into his loving, merciful hands. Remember that each day is a fresh start to “aspire to please” him in all things (2 Corinthians 5:9). Jesus is a judge, yes, but the most kind and merciful judge you will ever encounter! “Jesus, I thank you for the mercy you show me each day.”7
Friar Jude Winkler discusses the image of the cedar tree, used by Ezekiel, for the people of Israel. We live in Christ and we know not how the seed of the Spirit will grow within us. Friar Jude reminds us that fruition occurs in God’s time not ours.
Christopher Chapman has worked in spiritual direction training and has taught spirituality-related modules for St Augustine’s College of Theology in Kent. He comments that ‘Rather than a movement towards perfection that is individual, self-generated and has overtones of personal achievement, rooting and grounding in God moves us into fruitfulness that is generous and expressive of mutual interdependence.’
Much has changed in recent times in the ways we talk about our life in God. Spiritual experience is commonly understood as an essential dimension of what it is to be human. In a postmodern world any system that attempts to prescribe universally applicable patterns of growth is treated with scepticism. And yet we have not lost our love of linear descriptions of development. As a society we seem addicted to performance targets, self-help manuals and grading systems. After all, these are frameworks we feel we can manage, even if we often become their victims. We worry about what level we are on. We become self-absorbed, taken up with the climbing of our individual mountain where we will one day dwell in the splendid isolation of our achievement—or, more likely, give the whole thing up in sheer frustration.8
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, begins meditations that focus on unveiling the shadow self, an essential concept in his work that comes from Swiss psychotherapist Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961). It always needs initial clarification and definition.
Our self-image is not substantial or lasting; it is simply created out of our own mind, desire, and choice—and everybody else’s preferences for us! It is not objective at all but entirely subjective (which does not mean that it does not have real influence). The movement to second-half-of-life wisdom has much to do with necessary shadow work and the emergence of healthy self-critical thinking, which alone allows us to see beyond our own shadow and disguise and to find who we are, “hidden with Christ in God,” as Paul puts it (Colossians 3:3). The Zen masters call it “the face we had before we were born.” This self cannot die, lives forever and is our True Self. Religion is always in some way about discovering our True Self, which is also to discover God, who is our deepest truth.9
The images of seeds and trees help us appreciate our own spiritual transformation according to God’s plan in God’s time.
References
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