In life, we don't always realise how the same experience or speech can be understood and have a very different effect in different circumstances. As an example of this, I will mention today's first reading: God, through the prophet Ezekiel, said; "I will take a shoot from the top of a lofty cedar, from the topmost branches I will pluck a tender shoot, and plant it on a high and lofty mountain." At first glance, this might seem like beautiful words, but if one knows that Ezekiel is addressing God's people exiled in Babylon, these words take on a completely different light.
God's people are compared to a lofty and proud cedar, a people who have strayed from God and are now suffering the consequences of their actions in exile. However, God will not abandon them, as He will take a small remnant, a tender shoot, and bring it back to the land from which they were exiled: "...on the high mountain of Israel I will plant it." This small shoot becomes a sign for all nations: "It will put forth branches and bear fruit and become a majestic cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it, finding shelter in the shade of its branches." God does not work with the proud and lofty cedar but with the small remnant, from which Jesus will be born. The birds that find shelter in the shade of this shoot represent all the peoples who in Jesus and His Church find the shelter of God's grace.
"And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord, I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree;..." There is no greater obstacle for man than pride; God cannot work through the proud, He works through the small and humble. Today's Psalm is a prayer of a person who lifts their gaze to God because He is at the centre of their life. They do not boast of what they have or what they do, because they know that ultimately, everything comes from God: "It is good to praise the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night."
Today's Gospel shows this through words taken from agriculture: "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how." Just as the farmer sows but it is God who makes it grow, so also those who work for the Kingdom of God should keep in mind that they can only sow, but it is God who makes it grow and brings it to fruition. Our work is like the mustard seed, small, but when we work wholeheartedly and trust humbly in God's hands, He can transform the smallest seed into a tree. However, for this to happen, like the apostles, we must be close to Him so that He can nourish us with His Word as He did with them.
Let us ask ourselves: What is at the centre of my life, my pride or God? How often do I approach Jesus to let Him nourish me with His Word and free me from pride? How much do I accept that humility and love always go hand in hand?
Lord Jesus, today like the apostles we want to come to You and ask You to speak to us and explain the Scriptures to us, because we know that it is only through Your Word that we come to know who God is and who man is. We ask You from our hearts, make us like that small shoot, remembering that we are small but You can do great things through us. Amen.
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