+ Our readings today tell us about the comprehensiveness and
expansiveness of salvation: it
tells us about the effects of the life / death / resurrection of Jesus – the
Word of God, Incarnate – in-the-flesh.
The first reading tells us
that not only human beings, in our fragile and variously declining bodies, but
also all of creation: the animals, birds, plants, trees, oceans, stars and
universes – which are all imperfect to some extent – find themselves “straining
for perfection” – in fact, “groaning and moaning” until everything is made
right, complete and whole – and it never stops being that way: this is
redemption, this is salvation, this is slated to happen for us.
And this is a good thing,
because it gives us an enormous amount of hope, and courage and perseverance in
the face of all that life throws at us each day! What is amazing is that each
day is different, each day is fresh, each day is new – each day resembles to a
degree the one before it – but it is just not the same – and this is again
cause for hope, encouragement and even joy!
Who this applies to is
addressed in the gospel passage: it applies to everyone as the parable of the
yeast and the mustard seed tells us: the application of the effects of Good
Friday and Easter Sunday are for everyone, but it is up to everyone to find the tree, find the dough of which they can be a part by a simple act of
believing that it is all so, as a totally free gift from God the Father of
Creation, our Loving Father God.
And so, we seek the tree of
life today - the wood of the Cross – in this mass, and we seek the dough of the
Eucharistic Bread in which we can bury ourselves, find rest, refreshment,
comfort and nourishment of the journey today: the strength we need in order to
groan and moan and reach out always more and deeper for the reality of our own
salvation, our own redemption, our own reserved mansion in the heavenly homeland.
Thank you, Jesus, our Friend,
for revealing all this to us, as you heard it first from God, your Father! It
is a mystery extraordinaire! It is the mystery of Faith!
Amen.
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