Ez. 17:22-24; Ps. 92:2-3, 13-16; 2 Cor. 5:6-10; Mk. 4:26-34
The seed we receive today is the word of God. Each time we come to Mass we receive the seed in the liturgy of the Word. We are the ground in which it is to rise up and give fruit to the world. This is our calling to receive the word and to give testimony to the life of faith we have received. The seed needs to be attended to in order for it to grow. Prayer and reflection help fertilize the ground so it can take root but the lifegiving water is the Eucharist that allows it to grow and spread throughout the soul of a person.
The essence of the soul is in the unseen but it reveals itself to the mind that we may unite our thoughts to the mind of God, in our love for God is love who speaks to the heart of love, and in our will that we may seek to do the will of God. The seed gives us the eyes of faith to transcend what is seen and believe what God has revealed.
While we are in the body “we walk by faith not by sight”. Does this mean that we are not to trust our own eyes? To walk by faith is to trust in the unseen. Our eyes only allow us to see what is outside of the body, a person’s actions, the words they speak and what they fail to speak and do. We see the world and all its creation and by faith realize this does not exist from random selection but by a prime mover that gives the world all its beauty.
Faith transcends the external world to “see” with the eyes of faith what is revealed that lies inside the heart of a person. It allows us to become united by faith with a common understanding, similar hopes, and right intentions. It is the faith that seeks understanding, to understand the will of God in our lives in each and every moment in order to take right action. It gives us the courage to go forth even when we cannot see what lies ahead. Without faith two people could never come to trust the other with their love and enter into sacred matrimony. In faith we bring a child to the waters of baptism to become children of God.
The seed is planted in baptism before the child can even speak because it comes as a gift of God himself through the Holy Spirit to overcome the weakness of the flesh. Recall that in the beginning was the Word and the Word became flesh so that in baptism now the Word is united to our very being to become incarnated in us. This is why we bring a child to be baptized to receive this gift and grow from the seed of faith to the maturity of a majestic cedar that draws others to it. The world will also see but falsely claim that the person has good “Karma” because they refuse to give God the glory. Today we are reminded it is the Lord that brings low and lifts high, withers up and makes the cedar bloom.
Baptism of a child places the responsibility on the parents to bring up this child in the faith it has received. Just like the seed on the ground still requires the farmers attention, the child requires the constant attention not only to the physical and emotion needs but also to its spiritual needs. The child of God never outgrows this need no matter the age thus we are that child of God. We need God and he comes to us in the sacramental life of the church to keep feeding us in Word and his body and blood. Where are we in this journey of faith?
Do we walk by fear or by faith? If we don’t have that connection with God, listen for his voice, and realize the guidance of the Holy Spirit then we will walk by the fear of our own limited capacity. In the words of many who claim to be “lucky or unlucky”, the world will seem to be no more than random probability. In the eyes of faith, we recognize the hand of God, his divine providence, and our God given purpose in this world. The seed has been planted in us so how are we doing as farmers caring for it? It can be seen by the fruit that comes from this gift.
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