Mustard Seeds Of Faith
2021년 6월 13일Mustard Seeds Of Faith
< Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time >
It’s the little, almost invisible things, that often have the biggest impact on our lives. Consider the Corona virus (Covid 19). It’s so small you can’t see it with the naked eye, yet it brought the entire world to its knees. We are still feeling the after-effects of something invisible to the eye. Lucky for us the kingdom of God is also like this. Each kind word or helpful gesture we offer has an effect far beyond us. Letting someone get ahead of you in the supermarket checkout line might seem like nothing, but it may mean the world to the single mom struggling to feed her kids and having a bad day—-until your kind gesture made her realize she is not alone. Yielding a parking space isn’t difficult to do, but our pride and desire to beat everyone to everything might be in the way. Doing it with a smile is key to letting others know we see them as brothers and sisters and not as adversaries.
Teachers teach more than lessons. Good teachers also teach us how to treat each other with respect. When I was in the ninth grade I skipped school to go and listen to a politician running for president: John F. Kennedy. (I even got to shake his hand!) Of course back at school, later that day, I had to go to detention for missing class. But at the appointed hour, the vice principal came and sat with me for the entire time! The rules stated I had to do detention, but his compassion showed that justice can always be tempered with mercy. A mustard seed was planted that day which grew and blossomed in me as a vocation to become a priest. You can say I am here today because of how I was treated back then. Imagine the good we can do if each day we show kindness, mercy or compassion to those around us!