God Works in Mysterious Ways when We Trust Patiently in Him

06-13-2021Weekly ReflectionFr. Anthony Okolo, C.S.Sp

The first reading from the prophet Ezekiel tells of the promise of God to restore His chosen people Israel after the Babylonia exile. He says, “I too, will take from the crest of cedar, from its topmost branches tear off a tender shoot, and plant it on a high and lofty mountain on a mountain heights of Israel I will plant it.” The Babylonian exiles are like tender shoot after their exiles experience, God promised that He Himself would place them on a height where birds of every kind shall dwell beneath it. God is saying even though they had disobeyed Me by their actions and lack of faithfulness He would still restore them to a better position and not just bring them back but put them up to a higher level. In the same way, we may lose our way due to our unfaithfulness to God’s love but the moment we finally find our way back to God He restores us and places us in a high place beyond our own imagination. It is equally a way of encouraging us never to give up even when we feel we have lost our bearing. God would always restore us to a high mountain.

In the second reading Paul tells us that we walk by faith and not by sight, the faith helps us to see the mysterious work going on in our lives which may not be visible in our own eyes. This faith motivates us to keep striving to love God since we know that there would come a day we would be judged based on how we have lived our lives in our body. However, it should not be the fear of the punishment for our misdeeds that should push us to love Him, but our faith in God’s love for us. This faith keeps us straight in the course of right living because God’s love lasts forever.

The Gospel of Mark presents us with a parable of Jesus on the kingdom of God especially comparing it with the growth of seed on the soil whose farmer does not know how it happens. The farmer plants the seed and goes away, does his normal daily activities and the seed grows mysteriously. The mystery of the growth belongs to the seed and the soil. The only activity required of the farmer is vigilant patience. In the same way, when the word of God is sown in our hearts the only thing expected of us is to be patient with ourselves and allow time for the word to take root and grow within us. “The farmer must wait confidently on God’s good time and providence and eventually the time of growth and the time of harvesting will intersect. Once we have received the seed of God’s word in our heart, we must be ready for the dispossession, the gradual unfolding of the seeds potential that would push into our consciousness and transform our lives, making us plentiful harvest and enabling us to become nourishment for others.” The seed grows secretly and matures because the soil is willing and ready to welcome the seed. When our hearts are willing and disposed to receive the word of God, it is the action of the Holy Spirit that does the remaining work which may not be visible to us. That is why we need patience to allow the growth of the word of God to happen once we have received it in good faith.

Furthermore, Jesus speaks about the mustard seed which He calls the smallest of the seed but when it grows it turns into a big tree that birds of the air take refuge under it. Our faith at times may look very small and insignificant but God can change it in such a way that it transforms our lives that others may find refuge and shelter by the witness of our faith. This also coincides with the Feast of St Anthony of Padua whose feast we celebrate today June 13th. He had such strong faith and confidence in the word of God which brought renewal to his life. Thus, that transformation he received was so magnetic that it transformed the lives of many people that even today, after many years of his death the testimony of his faith keeps changing the lives of so many people. The growth of our faith is the work of the Holy Spirit. No matter how insignificant it may appear to us, our responsibility is to trust that just as the seed grew, so would our faith grow.

May St Anthony whose feast we celebrate today intercede for you all and bring healing to many people of our parish community that need God’s healing and intervention at this time.

Saint Anthony of Padua, Pray for us.

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