By Barb Arland-Fye
Editor
A homily reflecting on the parable of the mustard seed provided new insight on my journey of faith as I sat beside my husband Steve during Mass last Friday evening at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport.
In the Gospel reading for that day (Mark 4:26-34), Jesus uses parables to describe what the kingdom of God is like. Father Thom Hennen, the cathedral’s pastor, zeroed in on verses 30-32: “It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade” (usccb.org).
While I anticipated new insight pertaining to faith blossoming from a miniscule seed into the largest of plants, Father Thom’s homily provided insight from another perspective, reflecting on the birds dwelling in the large plant’s branches. This blossoming of faith becomes a shelter, a place of rest for the birds on their journey. God provides this shelter, inviting us to rest in the branches where we can contemplate the meaning of our faith and what it calls us to do and to be.
This is how Father Thom’s homily spoke to me. I was yearning for a place of rest on the faith journey.
We live in tumultuous times, where seeds of doubt, anxiety and fear threaten to crowd out the thriving plants of life. We are celebrating a Jubilee Year of Hope in the Catholic Church but, at times, I sense my hope is flagging. Father Thom’s homily offered encouragement and sustenance for the journey.
Pope Francis’ letter “Spes Non Confundit” (“Hope does not disappoint”), in which he announced the Jubilee Year, also serves as a source of encouragement. It might be beneficial to re-read the letter periodically to remind me of the interconnectedness of faith and hope.
In his letter, Pope Francis says, “the Christian life is a journey calling for moments of greater intensity to encourage and sustain hope as the constant companion that guides our steps towards the goal of our encounter with the Lord Jesus.”
As people of faith, we have a responsibility to read the signs of the times and interpret them in the light of the Gospel, the pope says. We also “need to recognize the immense goodness present in our world …” while not overlooking injustice or the needs of our sisters and brothers. We are to be “tangible signs of hope for those of our brothers and sisters who experience hardships of any kind.”
We are to bring hope to people who are ill at home or in the hospital, to people affected by illnesses or disabilities that severely restrict their personal independence and freedom. We are to bring hope to the young, to migrants, to the elderly and to people struggling with poverty.
We are to “rise above our trials and difficulties” and to “never [lose] sight of the grandeur of the heavenly goal to which we have been called,” Pope Francis says. This is how we build hope and share it with others.
Father Hennen’s homily comes to mind again. Perhaps God is calling me to become the mustard seed that grows into a large plant of faith, providing shelter and rest for others who become weary on their faith journey.
(Contact Barb Arland-Fye at arland-fye@davenportdiocese.org)
