June 13, 2021: 11th Sunday B

June 13, 2021: 11th Sunday B

What do you think is the smallest thing in the world? A few days ago, I had a conversation about tiny atoms with a university chemistry professor. I don’t know how we got on the subject, but an interesting thought came to my mind while we were discussing orbital hybridization of electrons as two atoms interact with each other in a chemical reaction. If one human embryonic cell is made up of 100 trillion atoms (that’s a 1 followed by 14 zeros) which is only visible under a high-powered microscope, how is it possible for us to grow into an adult body composed of 7 billion billion billion atoms (which is a 7 followed by 27 zeros)? Isn’t it mysterious how we begin as a tiny embryonic cell and grow into the most complex living being on the planet? We are a being whose soul and body are united as one--a being made in the image of Triune God who created the Universe. We are capable of self-knowledge, of self-possession, and capable of freely entering into communion with another person. 

The growth of the Body of Christ on Earth is truly mysterious like the growth of human bodies. Like a farmer who cannot make the seeds sprout which he scattered the night before and like the tiny mustard seeds which grow into large bushes, no one except God could have made possible the growth of the Body of Christ. Jesus chose and discipled ordinary men and women from a variety of life circumstances. Peter, the Apostles, and other disciples spent three years with Jesus, witnessing miracles and listening to his teachings. In those short three years, Jesus was facilitating growth in their faith and preparing them to be sent out. 

For the past 2,000 years, human empires have come and gone; even the mighty Roman empire lasted only 500 years. At the time of Jesus, it is estimated that 300 million people were living on earth. 2,000 years later, there are now 7.9 billion persons on earth; of that, an estimated 2.5 billion are Christians. The Church has withstood the test of time since Jesus established it on Peter and the Apostles despite human weakness and interventions. This growth can be only explained by God’s initiative. God spoke through Prophet Ezekiel, “As I, the Lord, have spoken, so will I do… I, the Lord lift high the lowly tree… and make the withered tree bloom.” 

The growth of our faith is also mysterious. God causes growth, change, and transformation in our lives beginning with a small seed of faith planted at our baptism. Sometimes people tell me that they feel discouraged because they don’t seem to sense spiritual growth in themselves. Sometimes I even feel nostalgic about how in the past it was better. I would say to myself, ‘I was more fervent, energetic, and devoted when I was a seminarian… I did far more things and ministries when I was a young priest.’ Thankfully, the growth of our faith is hidden from our self-evaluation which tends to be performance driven. Sometimes though, we can stunt our spiritual growth by our lack of charity or inaction. 

A Christian missionary tells of a testimony of a native of a small village in Thailand. The native man had a flaw; even as an adult, he treated his mother badly and disrespected her.  He was embarrassed to be her son because his mother had horrible disfigurement of her face and body. Before his conversion to Christianity, he was a Budhist who believed in reincarnation. He believed that his mother must have done evil things in her prior life for her to have such ugly disfigurement. One day, his aunt asked him, “Why do you treat your mother so badly?” The son explained his theory of his mother’s reincarnation. HIs aunt explained, “Your mother didn’t tell you? When you were an infant, you were sleeping in a hut that caught on fire. When your mother arrived, people tried to stop her as she was trying to go inside to rescue you. She went inside anyway and covered you with her body. Her face and body were disfigured by the fire which engulfed her. He realized that the scar on his mom was the sign of her love for him. Then he made the connection between what she did for him and what Christ did for him on the cross. The scars and sufferings Jesus endured on the Cross were a sign of his love for him. Late in his life, he realized how many opportunities were lost in loving his mother. How many of us have missed opportunities of loving God and missed opportunities in loving His will for us? 

We can make the decisions today to nourish the seed of our faith and to avoid the things that hamper God's work in us. Do we spend more time on TV, gym, and sports than on nurturing our faith, family, and community life? Small things with great love, Mother Teresa said. The time we spend reading God’s word, praying, participating in Mass, or checking on our neighbor can do so much to nurture the seed of faith in us. We are truly building God’s Kingdom when we have everyone in the community in mind by promoting fair wages, improving the education system, helping the poor in our community, or building houses with Habitat for Humanity. Gradually in time, the small seeds of love we plant will sprout. To God, nothing is small. He can take the littlest of our efforts and multiply it to bear fruit.