“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed.” Matthew 13:31
Nothing starts big; everything starts small and needs time to grow. Living in a world where anything we want is provided for us almost instantly, it would be good for us to be reminded of this truth every so often. Just like any seed that’s planted in good soil, watered and nourished, and given just the right amount of sun to sprout and slowly grow, so too is our faith … so too is building the kingdom of God on earth. Patience, determination, and perseverance are needed, and we would do good to pray to the Lord for these virtues to be strengthened in our lives. We would do good to accept the challenges in our lives and pray that they help build up these virtues in us. We shouldn’t be afraid of these challenges; instead, we should ask Christ to walk us through them and expand our hearts so that in the end, charity and an abundance of goodness may prevail just like the mustard seed that becomes the tree which provides charity for the birds needing a place of rest and an abundance of fruit to nourish others.
We would also do good to practice these virtues as we build God’s kingdom on earth. Many times, we may feel defeated or frustrated by the lack of faith in others or the lack of charity and mercy that we experience around us. Yet, we can find hope in this image of the mustard seed, a reminder that nothing happens instantly or overnight. Our role is to lay seeds of faith, practice charity and mercy, and pray that the Lord may do his work. As the parable emphasizes today, “small beginnings can lead to great expansions; small beginning can lead to abundant growth.”
On Saturday, we celebrate the patron saint of our Diocese, Saint James – a good example of how a small seed, planted in faith led to great things and not just in him but in the work that he did in building the Kingdom of God. Here’s a man who welcomed Christ into his life, and in turn Jesus purified his narrowness, pettiness, fickleness, arrogance, and displaced ambitions. The Lord had to do lots of work in him; yet, the Lord was patient with him, and in turn, Saint James learned to be patient with himself and remain committed to his conversion and his faith. May Saint James be an example for us in our life of faith. Saint James, our patron saint, pray for us.
In Christ
Fr Robert