The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’ The Lord replied, ‘If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea”, and it would obey you.
Like you, I have heard this Gospel many many times. Its about faith and mustard seeds. I know a little bit about faith. But I knew absolutely nothing about mustard seeds.
I mean, I know they are small, and Jesus was making a point about how small things can grow into big things.
But what I didn’t know is that mustard seeds are filled with essential mineral nutrients that our body needs, as well as trace minerals like magnesium and selenium, which can help with cancer prevention. I didn’t know that they are 25% protein, have no cholesterol, and abound in omega-3 fatty acids. I knew you could use them to make mustard plasters for skin ailments, but I didn’t know that mustard oil is a component of biodiesel fuel, and is a natural pesticide. And I absolutely didn’t know that the largest producer of mustard in the world is ……. Canada ! 250 million pounds a year!
So, what did this little foray into mustard research reveal to me? Well, it said that when we think of the Gospel’s example of faith that used size – you know, out of the small (size) can come a big (size)…. well, Jesus’ meaning is much richer than that. Because it is not just about the size of the outcome, but the impact !!!
I doubt that first century Palestine knew much about essential minerals, or omega-3 fatty acids. But we do. And we see that the impact of those little seeds is huge. Small becomes big not just in size, but in impact.
Life for us as Christians is like that – Small things can have big impacts
Albert Schweitzer, the Christian medical missionary to Africa back in the early 1900s said…”No ray of sunshine is ever lost, but the green which it awakes into existence needs time to sprout, and it is not always granted to the sower to see the harvest. All work that is worth anything is done in faith.”
Nurtured by the rays of sunshine of God’s love and God’s grace, you and I plant seeds. Small seeds, Seeds that become large, not only in size, but in impact.
For example, we plant seeds in our family. I remember holding our first children, twin girls, one in each hand in what was called the ‘football carry’. Each one about 5 lbs. Each one a small tiny miracle. And over the years that followed, we saw those two tiny young girls grow into women with their own families and children. We saw them grow to have a passion for social justice, and to choose occupations of service to the community. Did they grow in size? yes. No more football carry! But more importantly, the seeds of faith, of love, of caring, of compassion that we planted in them as children grew a hundred-fold in impact, as they share now those gifts with the hundreds of people they encounter in their lives. And lest we be accused of having favourites, we planted those seeds and saw their impact in all of our 5 children.
Every time we plant a seed of kindness in our dealings with another person, the impact can be huge.
Every time we choose to respond to others in love, not in anger or fear, the impact can be huge.
Every time we are touched by the needs of others, and our hearts are moved to help, the impact can be huge.
Every time we allow God’s spirit to help us become all that God created us to be, the impact will be huge.
How huge an impact? Well, every single day the Catholic Church feeds more people, houses more people, clothes more people, takes care of more sick people, visits more prisoners, and educates more people than any other institution on the face of the earth could ever hope to.
But this global impact starts here ….. in our hearts. In our families. And in a very special way, in our parish community.
I have been blessed to see all of the things that the parish of St. John’s does to plant the seeds of hope, of love, of caring in our community. How, because of our parishioners generosity in supporting the parish, St. Johns makes itself available to those in need …. not just in their people helping to serve, or in the food or volunteer labour that they provide but in the facilities that they make available to be a warm and dry shelter in winter, a place to gather and support each other … a place that enables those caring actions to happen.
I have been blessed to see all of the volunteers who though the various groups in the parish, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, bandage the wounded. I see the parish at work on the streets, in the shelters, the hospitals and hospices, in the long-term care facilities, in the families who are struggling and in need, in our outreach to the battered and oppressed. In our caring for our brothers and sisters who need our help. In how we are good stewards of God’s gifts to us. And how we share so generously those gifts with others.
And it all begins with planting some seeds, Seeds that can grow to have huge impact. Seeds that begin to be planted when you share of your time, and your talents, and your treasure. In our parish this weekend, we will be asking our parishioners to continue to generously support all that we do to help others. Because each small seed we plant does indeed grow to have a huge impact in the lives of those we serve.