Sunday, June 16, 2024

Our Gospel today reminds us that small things matter.  Jesus used the analogy of a mustard seed, the smallest of seeds that grew to be one of the largest bushes in their desert area, to instruct his disciples about the Kingdom of God and how it is breaking into our world.
 
As human beings, we tend to think that bigger is better, that bigger things are more important and consequential.  Thus, we can look at the world around us with all its problems and say, “What can I do?  I’m just this little person here in southeastern Wisconsin.”
 
My friends, that is just giving ourselves a “get out of jail free” card that God will not recognize.  The Kingdom of God is the Kingdom of love, mercy, unity, and peace. It is a Kingdom where all are recognized as God’s children and live in peace together. Our baptismal commitment is to live in such a way that we are helping the Kingdom to grow, whatever our capacity may be.   Every action or word brings about or undermines love and peace.
 
For example, affirming someone who does something good; spending a few moments talking with a beggar, helping them feel human; calling someone who lives alone and chatting with them for a few minutes; visiting the homebound; smiling at a cashier and thanking them for their service; being patient in traffic or waiting in line; helping the elderly; forgiving someone who hurt us, and so on and so on.
 
All of these are small, little mustard seeds.  But they add up. When we fail at doing these “small” things, we either are missing the opportunity to bring joy or love to someone (e.g. thanking a cashier for good service) or we are bringing unhappiness and disunity into the world (e.g. when we react with road rage).
 
God doesn’t expect us to accomplish things above our pay grade: God just expects us to do the best we can to bring peace, joy, and harmony as we move through our day.  The more we can manage to do that, the more we are enabling the Kingdom of God to break into our world.  God bless.
 
Church sign of the week: Positive thinking must be followed by positive doing.