For We Walk by Faith, Not by Sight

06-16-2024Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh Iorchir, VC

The exiled people of Israel received a series of “prophecies of doom” that painted a gloomy story of their contemporary situation from the Prophet Ezekiel who ministered to the people during the period of exile. A er one of such oracles, God decided to off er them a message of hope for restoration. God employed an agricultural parable to pass this relieving message of hope, this must have resonated with the people, an overwhelming majority of whom were agriculturists. The Lord was going to take from the crest of the cedar, a tender shoot, which He would plant on a high and lofty mountain of Israel.

He would give it growth so as to ensure fruit bearing and it would grow into a majestic cedar under whose branches birds of every kind would dwell. To the despairing people of Israel, the message of this parable was clear. God was offering them hope for the restoration of their lost dignity and freedom as a people, a restoration that would attract the admiration and fellowship of all the nations of the earth. God was going to take a “shoot” from the Davidic dynasty and restore it in Jerusalem. In simple terms, the Lord was going to place a descendant of David on His ancestor’s throne and His reign would bring people of all nations to Israel. This must have sounded hopelessly over-op mis c for the subdued and despairing audience of the prophet Ezekiel, but the Prophet insisted it was the Lord who said it and He would do as He had promised.

Scripture is the living Word of God and it has a way of being relevant to all generations, people and time. The First Reading speaks the message of hope to every believer who is struggling with faith, life, the pursuit of righteousness and even internal individual and family worries. God is willing to give new strength to our lives if we let Him. In the midst of so many woes and stories of disappointment, God stands ready to lift us to unimaginable glory, again, if we allow Him.

This prophetic utterance of Ezekiel came to pass with the ministry of Jesus, Son of David and Son of God who through the New covenant which He sealed with His blood, brought all people from all nations into covenant relationship with God and made salvation available even to the Gen les. This was a mystery that Jesus knew was alluding the understanding of His unsophisticated disciples. So, He told the two parables: the first, illustrating the minimal work done by a sower while God gave growth as the sower slept; the second, about the mustard seed which at the time of planting is just a tiny seed but grows into a shrub that provides shelter for birds of all kinds. This mustard seed clearly refers to the Word of God which can be understood in two senses: the proclaimed Word of God and Jesus Himself who is the Word of God (Jn 1:1). When we proclaim the Word to people, we are essentially sowing the seed and that is the much we are enabled to do. The rest of the mystery of how faith is received and grows in any individual, community, nation and even generation is mysterious work proper to the working of God. In the second sense, it is instructive to note that a er His death on the cross, Christ the Word of God was literally planted in the ground in the mountain heights of Israel where He germinated into His Body the Church and has continued to receive growth through the workings of the Holy Spirit who enables people from many nations to find the shelter of salvation in her branches. Thus, in Christ the royal Son of David, Ezekiel’s prophecy did come true as the House of David was reestablished in Jerusalem, and the new kingdom of David’s Son, the Church, continues to spread and positively transform the world in many generations.

We are invited to have faith in God who restored the Kingdom of Israel and the House of David even as the Church and all adherents of the Truth and the Way of Christ endure persecution from all kinds of hostile adversaries. The mustard seed has been planted, it will not die, and God shall give it growth in mysterious ways.

Please be kind and may God bless you.

Fr. Manasseh