This weekend's gospel reading tells about one of the many parables that Jesus used to teach the Jewish people - the mustard seed, smallest seed of all, that sprouts out and grows into the largest shrub, and becomes shelter for birds and animals. But what relevance to our lives has this parable of the mustard seed?
Indeed, each and every one of us is a mustard seed; each has, stored within, a vast amount of potential to become the largest shrub. But while it is easy to think of ourselves as this seed with such potential, it is an almost impossible feat to think the same way of another person so filled with flaws that irritate the life out of us. When all we see is the person's negatives and we try in vain to identify any good in that person, how can we believe that he is capable of any good, let alone to become this "largest shrub", that he can be of any good to any other person?
First and foremost, let not our pride blind our eyes from recognising how we, too, have lived very unworthy lives and perhaps, to others, we are also one of those whose flaws seem to overshadow all our good and potential good. If we are of any good now, was it not because of the graces of God, His guiding hands, that have brought us thus far?
Perhaps, like myself, many others have experienced God's personal and infinite love that called us out of our sinful living into Christian holiness, that which entails the continuous and conscientious struggle against sin. And even in this struggle, how numerous are the times we fall!! If God can break through the thick and hardened walls of our hearts, why can't He reach into the hearts of others too? If He can melt down our hearts and let His love anchor our lives in Him, then surely, He can do the same for those others we categorise as "beyond hope". Are we better than these who are "beyond hope"? Possibly, many of us might put ourselves up for comparison and come to the conclusion that we truly aren't as bad. Even so, we need to come in humility to acknowledge, as St Pio honestly put it, that we, without God, are capable of only one thing - sin. We are as we may think "not-so-sinful" solely because God has given us extra blessings and graces to keep our hearts on the right path. And I would like to think that God does not show favouritism and that these blessings and graces are precisely given to us for His mission - to bring others back to Him, just as He has brought us to Himself.
Partaking actively in this mission of God is a completely challenging responsibility and commitment but this is what we are called to do as His disciples, His hands, feet, and mouth, His ministers and representatives. If we dare not challenge ourselves to help others in their journey back to God, how can we dare to kneel before Him to ask for His guidance and protection for our own selves, and how can we stand before Him to continually receive His blessings and graces, that which we refuse to extend to others?
When we next meet someone who is difficult, someone who seems so impossible of anything good, let us remind ourselves that this person can also be transformed by God. He has the potential that we ourselves have, of doing good, of being good, potential that God can unleash and use for His greater glory. Let us be patient and be compassionate in praying that God will touch this person's heart so that he too may become the largest shrub, providing a source of comfort and strength for others. Let us also pray that we too may open our hearts so that God may enter to do the same to the mustard seed in us. Amen.
Saturday, 16 July 2011
11.05pm
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