Readings:
Romans 8: 18-25
Luke 13:18-21
Reflection
Jesus says, “the Kingdom of God is like the mustard seed,” and Paul says, “All of creation is waiting with eager expectation for the revelation to come of the Children of God.”
Can you imagine? All of creation—even the tiny mustard seed—waits in eager expectation for the power of the Spirit, urging it toward roots and branches and shelter for all the birds of the air and peoples of the earth.
I see that mustard seed standing on tippy-toe, eagerly looking forward to providing shelter for all! This divine power, infused into the world at the beginning, is projecting us toward the unity Jesus prayed for, and Teilhard De Chardin wrote in “Hymn of the Universe” even in “the very earth, the rocks,” that we may all be one, “as you, Father, and I are one.”
Are we any closer, with all our technological progress toward human connection? With many nations at war and people starving and homeless on the streets of our cities, “all of creation is going through growing pains of labour.”
How do we hold ourselves together? What do we do? Paul reflects: “Wait in hope for what we do not see. We wait with endurance.” Easier said than done! It’s all very well to have images of the Kingdom of God, where, as Jesus prayed, all will be one. What evidence on earth would convince us that the Beloved Community is at hand?
But maybe that’s the point: Hope is not based on anything we can see or reason out. Hope is a choice based on faith that Jesus’ prayer will finally be answered and “all will be One.”
Then the mustard seed—and all creation—will join in the “Hymn of the Universe!”
David Peter Folkes is a former Passionist Priest who resigned and married with 2 children and 2 grandchildren living in Chicago. He is mostly involved with refugee resettlement and racial equity issues.