Tuesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/102511.cfm

Mustard Bush

Jesus said, "What is the Kingdom of God like?
To what can I compare it?
It is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in the garden.
When it was fully grown, it became a large bush
and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches."

Although my reference above is to Saint Luke's parable, I want also to reflect on the eighth chapter of Saint Paul's epistle to the Romans. Both speak of the Promise and it is so important that we live in the Promise. We have been variously called People of the Book, a Liturgical Church, and a Moral Community, but I believe we are most especially Keepers of God's Promise. It is that which comforts our sorrows and animates our efforts. The Promise heals our hurts and eases the disappointment we feel over incurable wounds, chronic illness and lifelong disabilities. 

In this Gospel Jesus compares the unpromising size of the mustard seed to the glorious bush in which birds build their nests. In fact the mustard bush is not like the towering cedars of Lebanon. But we see in the North America small birds building nests in bushes. I think Jesus is using a bit of hyperbole to draw a smile from his listeners. He describes the mustard bush as if it were large when everybody knows it's just a scrub bush; but it's also a safe haven for the little birds hiding from the raptors that soar above. The Promise exalts the bush and the Church and the Kingdom of God and gives us joy even in this moment. 

And so we move to Romans 8: 

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us.

If anything the sufferings of this present time are a sign and sacrament of the glory to come! The horror and agony and ignominious humiliation of Jesus on the cross promise the Glory To Come, just as the small wafer of our Eucharist announces the grandeur of Universal Fellowship and the six by four by six foot grave proclaims the unlimited dimensions of the Kingdom of God. Catholics gaze upon the crucifix and see astounding beauty because we see through the sign to the Reality. It is precisely in small gestures that we see God's great deeds.

For in hope we were saved. Now hope that sees for itself is not hope. 

As People of the Promise we abide in that hope. I often meet former Catholic Veterans who have lost hope. They still call themselves Catholic -- and there is merit in that -- but they no longer practice hope by attending Mass and daily prayer. Many have slipped and slid into various abusive practices: alcoholism, smoking, drug abuse and habitual anger. Disappointed and hopeless they rage against life and destroy themselves and their loved ones. 
I cannot judge them for I know their hopelessness; but in the prayers I offer for them and, usually, with them I try to restore the Promise. "You can still enjoy the innocence of your First Communion. You can still find purity in your Sacrament of Marriage. You can still be satisfied with a tiny wafer of bread and the smallest sip of wine if you will only return to Church." For we will 

be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.