Some men see things as they are and say why – I dream things that never were and say why not.
This quote was made famous by Robert F Kennedy but it really goes back to George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950).
As people of faith we say why not because we walk by faith not by sight!
No matter the degree of our eyesight, our vision remains strong if we cling to our faith.
St. Paul reminds the people of Corinth, who were anxious
about the 2nd coming of Jesus, to walk by faith, be encouraged and carry on with their life. A great reminder for us that until Jesus comes again we walk by faith, be strong, carry on!
What is faith? In Scripture, Hebrews 11:1 to be exact, we are told that faith is the assurance of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen!
Did you catch that – not seen – again, we walk by faith not by sight!
We humbly recognize that we control nothing; it is God that is in control!
Maybe Jesus was trying to reinforce this very point in today’s Gospel when he gave us two parables about things growing. In the first parable
of the farmer, who indeed works very hard to produce good fruit, ultimately all things, even the crops, depend on God. God is the Lord of all creation; that means not just the crops, but our very being. This parable also should remind us to be patient with
God’s plan because His plan alone is indeed perfect!
Now can we consider the mustard seed; the tiniest of seeds that produces a great big plant? A wonderful symbol for the church is the mustard
seed; from the smallest of beginnings to the church that is 1.2 billion followers today, in every land and nation, across the time zones of the world; as we say in Eucharist prayer III: from the rising to the setting of the sun. No matter what the struggle
or the challenge, the Church is always the Body of Christ, His bride; in her we can take our rest!
For us, inspired by these readings on this Father’s Day, we thank God for the gift of fathers; be they our own dads, our spiritual fathers,
the men who are our fathers as Priests of Christ, and anyone who exercises the duties and role of father to children. So many men were generous to me in my life as I dealt with my dad who was not present, who I did not see for years, who died when I was a
young teenager. At peace with his life and his love for me, as best he could, it was the generosity of three uncles and a beautiful Catholic Priest who guided me in my most formative years. Their example of generosity helps me to focus on how generous I
am, how generous are all of us? A parishioner last week, in one unexpected act of generosity, and she knows who she is, lifted both me and my wife during a time of difficult family events. God expects us to be generous. And I think this can best be explained
with a beautiful moment from an old TV show I just loved called simply ER. My favorite character was Dr. Mark Greene, played by Anthony Edwards, who in the end, was cast to die peacefully from a terrible disease. In one sweet and tender moment with his daughter,
just a father and his little girl, he told her this:
Be generous! Be generous with your time, with your love with your life!
The great gift of our very self, the gift of presence, the generosity of our time, our love and our life!!!
Life goes on, the crops grow, the mustard seed produces a great big plant, and we dream of things that never were and say why not, because we
walk by faith and not by sight!
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