Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear Friends,

For a seed to bear fruit, nature and nurture must align. The seed must contain life; it must be healthy; the ground must receive it; and then, it must take root and survive. The list goes on.

Because we are in need of shelter, sustenance, and relationship, we can fall into experiencing life as a must. Jesus sees us and tells us, You already have everything. “Blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear.” We need not wait for these needs to be met by chance or by our own effort. Our Father knows what we need before we ask Him.

“Many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see…” In Jesus’s words, we hear the heart of God yearning for us. We have been saved on the cross. See. When we turn to Him, we find He is already there, leading us to the good soil, to the place of rest Jesus spoke of in last week’s Gospel. God wants eternal life for us more than we want it for ourselves. He wants it for us, because He loves us with His entire being, and He knows that our greatest happiness will be to know Him in eternal life.

Creation reminds me of the abundance of care God has for our little world. I like to pray today’s psalm when I am having a hard time remembering. “The fields are garmented with flocks, and the valleys blanketed with grain. They shout and sing for joy.” When we look at nature, we see how God is poured out in His desire for life. Picture a field overflowing with wheat. Or, remember a time of abundance in your own life, and how everything has come together to sustain you and lead you to this moment. Such is the goodness of God.

When the variables align, a flower simply lives. By living, they sing for joy. Jesus, give us the eyes that see the miracle in a seed that bears fruit. Give us the ears that hear creation singing for joy.

Caitlyn Bell
Spiritual Formation