Courage, the courage of faith is what we need. The reality is that we are not always courageous and our faith is often somewhat wanting. This was the case with the Jewish nation in the time of the Assyrian invasion, the days of the Babylonian exile, conquered once again. In this context of this great destruction, the image that we have form the Boo of Kings, the promise that not by a political alliance with Egypt will they be saved, not by a miraculous victory, that the Lord himself, the Lord Yahweh, will take a small branch from the upper branches of the huge tree that was Babylon, and plant it back upon Mt. Zion, and the small faithful branch, a tender shoot will become a great cedar on the hgh mountain, where it will be seen by all. They were all filled with doubt, but the Lord God promised this outcome.
Adam and Liz Gleason, the son and daughter-in-law of Pat and Janet Gleason live in Denver. They have been blessed with three children, a six year old, a four year old celebrating her 4th birthday this weekend, and a six month old, who has spent more of his days in the hospital than at home, though he has come home where he and his older brother require 24 hour care, 7 days a week. The boys share a similar condition of hydrocephalus condition.
On a podcast, Adam G from Legacy, the couple has been sharing their journey of faith, most often Adam, but Liz just posted this week. “We celebrate inch stones instead of milestones.’ That is what she named the slow progress of stabilizing the boy’s health. “ These are the moments were gratitude fills my heart and my life begins to feel more okay. She concludes, In the end, I have little to no resemblance of the person I was before I became a medical mama. My physical body shows the scars of multiple C-sections, while my soul bears the scars of watching my children suffer tremendous hardships. My career goals have been sacrificed, my freedom lost, and my hopes for the future dramatically changed. I have learned that unconditional love requires sacrifice but also brings me so much purpose. My life is filled with almost constant grief and pain, but it is also filled with hope and tremendous gratitude, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I don’t share this letter to ask for pity or make my suffering seem more than yours; I share it to help you better understand, as well as for my own healing.” She writes. Filled with hope and gratitude,.. this can only come from faith. What an example of the courage of faith and the power of hope.
In an article entitled “Jesus is Lord by Fr. Raneiro Cantalamesa, OFM, the longtime Preacher of the Papal household, that means this humble Franciscan friar is regularly given the task to preach to the Holy Father and the Papal household about the Lordship of Christ having the Power to renew the Church. To renew as individuals, as community, as a church, like coming from a tender shoot off the top most branch and replanted into the fresh soil of faith on the mountain of God. He wrote,”We must acknowledge that the title, Lord, has lost the unique power it had at the beginning of of all Christianity. One of the reasons for this is that people understood the title, Lord, in relation to servants; as a counterpart to servants. Therefore they thought it corresponded to the imperfect stage where fear is still reigning. So, titles belonging to the stage of love, such as Teacher, or Friend, were seen as more important than the title, Lord. The fact is that the titles Lord and Friend are not in opposition, they actually require one another.” I think what he is saying, is that to be a friend and disciple of Jesus, means that one must accept him as Lord. The preacher’s final admonition is to “Take Courage and work.” This is the proclamation of Easter, the so-called kerygma. Jesus died; Jesus is risen; He is the Messiah; He is the Lord.” Everything began with this; all the force of the gospel preaching was contained in this proclamation as a seed planted
And so we arrive at the Gospel parable today, the seed is sowed. And we being in harvest time, we witness the truth that it produces 30, 60 or even a hundred fold. Despite the great advances in farming techniques, planters that can place almost surgically the specific number of seeds, herbicides and fertilizers, the extensive irrigation methods, we are really just as far from understanding how it happens as the Gospel tells it, the mystery of life given to us, the hope of eternal life that is planted within us. At the end of the day, we can only marvel at the goodness of God and his providential plan for humankind, sending his son to tea h us in parables, that we might have faith and hope, become that tender shoot that grows into a tree that shades the birds of the air. We only need to think of the sun of Wednesday, to imagine the need for shade in the Holy Land. What began as the Lord, Yahweh in the Old Testament grows exponentially in our understanding in recognizing Jesus as Lord. This was in the face of the mighty Romans who called Caesar, Lord. Many persons and things in the world wish to be Lord of our lives, the government, the entertainment industry, work, sports, global corporation, bad relationships, ect. We pray for too many things, and we end up praying for nothing, believing in nothing, trusting in no one but one-self. The papal preacher added this encouragement, ‘We need to unearth this word of the spirit whish is the blessed proclamation of Jesus as Lord.
This week is a week declared as the week of religious freedom. We, for a few years had collectively prayed the fortnight of freedom leading up to the Fourth of July celebration. Religious freedom is the soil of faith, the birth of true courage to face even death. There was a wonderful full length documentary released in select theatres on June 3 & 4th and will again play, again at select theatres, “Jesus Thirsts”, just this seed of knowledge of the Eucharist could blossom into the coming of the Kingdom of God, in anyone who has received the Lord as Lord of all of creation. The Meade County Catholic Radio is coming to its one year anniversary of planting seeds for the kingdom. Let us have the courage to proclaim that Jesus is truly Lord, that he has all things in his hands, that he will bring us to eternal life in the kingdom.
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ogbl#inbox/FMfcgxwLsJrrfQXcmFSnRlJgFdpqvdGc
http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_letters/documents/papa-francesco-lettera-ap_20201208_patris-corde.html
http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20201003_enciclica-fratelli-tutti.html