Mk 4:26-34 GOD IS PRESENT IN OUR HOPE
"(Click here for readings)"
"Trust in the Lord and do good, that you may dwell in the land and be fed in security. Commit to the Lord your way; trust in him, and he will act. (Ps 37)
Jesus said to the crowds: "A man scatters a seed on the land and would sleep and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how."
The Lord is sowing hope. Is it not the smallest of all the seeds in the garden? Faith can be intellectually nourished. Love can grow quickly - appear suddenly, out of nowhere.
But what about hope? There is so little of it "today", since it is always "yet to come." So this is precisely what hope is: a seed, the anticipation of things to come - the realization of our faith and the long awaited arrival of our love.
Faith "believes" in the future. Hope sees "the future. It allows us to catch glimpses, now and then, of things still hidden. The Kingdom of God is truly like a mustard seed that grows in a garden full of mustard seeds - some advanced, others still dormant.
Hope grows slowly but surely and when it is fully grown it will be the largest of all the plants. It is what keeps us going. It allows us to fulfill our promises and live our lives in the Lord. We await to see those who have departed before us; to see the fruits of our hard labor; to rest in peace; to love all things; to be one again with our Creator and King. There is a spiritual reason why, with the advancing of age, we participate more and more in prayer and in the Liturgy and Sacraments of the Church. It is simple to explain: "The hope I once had in passing things (people, prestige and possessions) have passed away."
All things pass away, only Heaven remains.
Hope is nourished with the Light of God, his Word. It is the expectation of the promise made and fulfilled. It is a given. It will happen. Therefore, hope in all the gifts and blessings that God has given to you. Hope in all the people that surround you. Hope in all the good you can do. Hope in all the love you can give. Hope in all the difference you can make because united to the Promise Keeper, it will all come true.
"Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth; you revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom." Help us to see, as children of the light, the Light you shed upon us now and forever. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Credit: esoteric-soup.blogspot.com
