Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like? To what can I compare it? It is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in the garden. When it was fully grown, it became a large bush and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.”
Again he said, “To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch of dough was leavened.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Leonardo da Vinci said, “Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.”
For example, if a spider were to spin a web three feet long by three feet wide, and I cut a hole the size of a penny into one of its corners, then the entire web would lose a certain amount of strength.
Every inch of that web is connected.
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Think about your spiritual life in a similar way.
Although we might not see a direct connection between every particular action and our overall sense of wellbeing, everything is connected.
If you increase your personal prayer time, then you’ll also notice a decrease in your stress level.
If you’re generous, then you’ll find a greater sense of detachment from worldly things.
If you’re involved in parish ministry, then you may find a stronger sense of peace.
If you give more time to the Lord, then you may find more time for yourself.
As Jesus says in today’s Gospel, a single pinch of yeast permeates an entire loaf. Everything works together; everything is connected.
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What’s something positive that I can do to nourish my spiritual life today?
Perhaps it’s a few minutes spent in prayer. A phone call to a friend. A quiet walk through nature.
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That single action can increase your overall sense of wellbeing. Like repairing a hole cut into a web, somehow, it’s all connected.
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Image credits: (1) PriceHealth.ca (2) Academy for Systems Change (3) Damron Chiropractic and Wellness
Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath. And a woman was there who for eighteen years had been crippled by a spirit; she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect. When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said, “Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.” He laid his hands on her, and she at once stood up straight and glorified God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath, said to the crowd in reply, “There are six days when work should be done. Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day.” The Lord said to him in reply, “Hypocrites! Does not each one of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his ass from the manger and lead it out for watering? This daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now, ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day from this bondage?” When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated; and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Once again, the Lord teaches us how to love one another.
In the Temple, Jesus spots a woman who’s been hunched over for 18 years. His heart is moved with compassion for her … and immediately he acts.
“He laid his hands on her,” the Gospel tells us, “and she at once stood up straight and glorified God.”
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This is the mark of a true disciple of Jesus: we see someone suffering – and, immediately, we act.
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Too often our hearts are moved with compassion for the sick, the poor, and the lonely, but we fail to do something concrete about it. This isn’t because we don’t want to, but for one reason or another we put it off.
Consider the difference between these few examples:
“I should call and check up on my neighbor.” Versus, “I willcall them now. If they don’t answer, then I will knock on their door…If still no response, then I will try again tomorrow.”
“I should forgive those hurt feelings deep within.” Versus, “I will not stop praying until the Lord takes this burden of anger from me.”
“I should be more generous to the less fortunate.” Versus, “I willincrease my giving to charitable causes this holiday season and spend time serving the poor, learning their names, and listening to their stories.”
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Jesus saw a woman hunched over for 18 years and, immediately, he acted.
May we have that same type of responsive compassion for others today.
Beloved: I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance. At my first defense no one appeared on my behalf, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them! But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.
The Word of the Lord.
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Recently, someone said to me, “Father, the first 100 years are the hardest.”
It was a light-hearted joke, but also a beautiful profession of faith: for Christians, life does not end in death.
“The first 100 years are the hardest.”
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For the last several weeks, we’ve been reading through St. Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy. Timothy was Paul’s protégé, a young man whom Paul ordained a priest. Paul even refers to him as his “spiritual son.”
But now Paul’s reached the end of his ministry. He’s no longer sailing the Mediterranean; no longer walking freely along city streets; no longer preaching in public. He’s chained in a Roman prison awaiting his execution.
Perhaps the only benefit Paul has is an indeterminate amount of time to reflect upon his ministry and try to hand on lessons learned to the next generation.
There are four virtues, in particular, that Paul shares with Timothy – virtues, which any parent would wish for their child – faithfulness, perseverance, forgiveness, and peace.
The best way to hand these on is first to live them, which Paul does heroically.
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Paul was a Christian for thirty years.
Over the course of his ministry, he established more than two dozen Christian communities, in places such as Greece, Turkey, and Syria. He wrote fourteen pastoral letters included in the New Testament.
He sailed across the Mediterranean and walked an estimated 10,000 miles on foot!
He was beaten, shipwrecked, abandoned, flogged, and left for dead. But he never gave up. For Paul, faith was not a sprint; it was a marathon.
And he persevered.
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He was also faithful to the Gospel. After the Lord appeared to him in a flash of light, asking him, “Why are you persecuting me?” Paul became a zealous Christian.
Whether preaching in public or chained in prison, he gave Jesus everything he had – his physical strength, his money, his talent, his mind, his scholarship, and the full devotion of his heart.
Now that he’s confined to the darkness of a prison cell, he still affirms his faith. “The Lord [has] stood by me and given me strength… [He] will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory.”
Not even the threat of death could stomp out the light of Paul’s faith.
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He also he forgave those who trespassed against him.
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As he says in his letter to Timothy today, “At my defense, no one appeared on my behalf, but everyone deserted me.”
Just like our Lord thirty years before, Paul faces his executioners alone … and he forgives his friends for abandoning him. “May it not be held against them!” he says.
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Still, in his abandonment, Paul is at peace. “The time of my departure is at hand,” he tells Timothy.
This word – “departure” – literally means to remove the yoke from an ox, giving the sense that Paul feels the burden of his ministry being lifted from his shoulders. There’s a sense of completion; he has done what God asked him to do.
“All that awaits me now,” he says, “is the crown of righteousness.”
Now it’s Timothy’s turn – and by extension, our turn – to fight the good fight; to run the race to the finish; to keep the faith.
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Of the four virtues we see in Saint Paul, which one am I in need of today?
Is it perseverance in running the race of faith? Faithfulness to the Lord or to vows I’ve made? Forgiveness for someone who’s hurt me? Or, perhaps, peace and freedom from fear?
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“The first 100 years are the hardest.”
May Paul intercede on our behalf that we all might fight the good fight; run the race to the finish; and keep the faith.
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Image credits: (1) COPT Orthodox, Pinterest (2) St. Paul, Rembrandt (3) George T. Montague, SM, Word Among Us
