Small Becomes Large with God

July 28 2008

Monday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

By Beth DeCristofaro

For, as close as the loincloth clings to a man’s loins, so had I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the LORD; to be my people, my renown, my praise, my beauty. But they did not listen. (Jeremiah 11:13)

“The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field.
It is the smallest of all the seeds yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the ‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.’” (Matthew 13:31-32)

Piety

Lord, help me to be fully alive to your holy presence.
Enfold me in your love.
Let my heart become one with yours. (Sacred Space)

http://www.sacredspace.ie/dailyprayer/index.php?lang=en&d=28&m=07&y=2008

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/072808.shtml

What a remarkable image! God says: For, as close as the loincloth clings to a man’s loins, so had I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me (Jeremiah 11:13) God wants to be as close to us as our intimate clothing. God doesn’t shy away from our bodies. Jesus made full use of his body as a man – even giving it away in sacrifice. As Father Joe McKloskey wrote in his Daily Tripod reflection yesterday, “God's love is so all embracing that there is never less than all of God's love in any moment of our life that we are living. What am I willing to offer for all of God's love? The catch in the offer is all of "self.” Ignoring or resisting this all embracing love causes the relationship to rot – on our earthly side not on God’s side.

However, Jesus’ promise is that nurturing, seeking relationship to him, and thus to God will reap beyond our bodies’ potential and in fact beyond our imagination. Faith, humanly small, grows and gives life to more than the self through the workings of God and the quickening of the Spirit. In the wonderful surprise of God’s love, faith gives life to the unexpected. In Jesus’ parable, small birds of the sky which represent peoples other than the Jews were welcomed into the branches of the mustard tree. Our faith touches other human beings, or can produce great works of awesome humility and grow even human saints.

Action

Let my heart become one with yours, Jesus, as my heart is too small to house the birds of the sky you send my way. In what ways is my heart too small? Recent polls show that volunteering is down for the second year in a row in the US. Am I stingy with my time? Indeed, time is often too full of obligations. God rejoices that I commit to the needs of the life given me. But do I spend time with God in quiet moments? How am I looking to grow and strengthen my branches of faith?