Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator
The Scripture readings for the 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time of the B Cycle of the Lectionary for Mass present us with a number of botanical or agricultural images. The prophet Ezekiel uses the image of a cedar tree to convey God's promise to reclaim the people of Israel from the Babylonian captivity. Psalm 92, a psalm used in the Temple of Jerusalem as a Sabbath prayer, compares the just to a flourishing palm tree or a fragrant cedar while comparing the wicked to grass which withers. The Gospel uses the image of a sower broadcasting the seed on the field and the mustard seed to convey the idea that God is responsible for all growth, botanical and human. The image of the harvest is also cited, a familiar reference to the end of time.
The reading from St. Paul's 2nd letter to the Corinthians provides us with a way to tie all of these images together. Paul has experienced a number of physical challenges in his life. He has been stoned, flogged, and shipwrecked as well as bearing the results of debilitating physical problem with his eyes. Paul's enemies use this notion to claim that God would not treat a real disciple in this manner. They try to convince the people that Paul's physical limitations are a judgment from God. Paul responds in these words: we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil.
This is where the harvest references in the Gospel come to the fore. God does not judge on the basis of physical limitations or disabilities. God will, at the end of each of our lives, judge us on our faith in God's ability to save. All we can do is allow the Word of God, the seed sown by Jesus, to grow through a nurturing faith.
May God continue to bless you with the gift of faith.