by Sister Laura Zelten
This Sunday is Father's Day, a day to reflect on the influence of our fathers or father figures. Our parents are often the first to plant the tiny seeds of faith in us through their words and actions. I know when I look at my Dad’s faith I understand where my faith roots come from and why they are so deep. Even in these later years, Dad shows my sisters and me that, with patience and trust, seeds of faith bear fruit in God’s time.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of seeds of faith. He tells the parable of the mustard seed: the “smallest of all the seeds” is nurtured into one of the largest plants. The mustard seed represents our faith while the tree represents the Kingdom of God. This transformation doesn’t happen automatically or overnight. It requires faithful prayer.
Prayer is how we foster our “mustard seeds” of faith to bloom and thrive. As we focus on praise to and sacrifice for God, our faith grows and gains strength. Our prayers might not be answered always in the way we would like but, as with Jesus demonstrates in the in Garden of Gethsemane, we should continue to form ourselves to the will of God, recognizing His will holds ultimate joy.
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My Dad was the most wonderful mam I could imagine. There was never a doubt about his faith and he gave the best advice with his example. He was our mustard seed. One little thing he did was to tip his hat whenever he passed a church. -- Irene Whatley
"The seed of God is in us. Given an intelligent and hard-working farmer, it will thrive and grow up to God, whose seed it is, and accordingly its fruits will be God-nature. Pear seeds grow into pear trees; Hazel seeds into hazel trees; And God seeds into God." (Meister Eckhart) Who is this "intelligent, hard-working farmer [gardener]" for you, that helps your God-seeds grow and produce fruits of God's nature and in God's image and likeness? -- Linda P.