What Does a Seed Need?
HIS:
Happy Father’s day from Roamin’ Catholics to all those
Fathers, Grandfathers, Godfathers, father like figures, dearly departed fathers
and spiritual fathers out there. Thank you for all you do in guiding all
of us in our paths. This week was a bit of a homecoming for me as we
visited Christ the King parish in Silver Spring, MD. Christ the King is
around the corner from where I lived when I first moved to the Washington, DC
area and where I regularly attended mass. I haven’t been back here in a
very long time. While I don’t remember everything about the church from
nearly 30 years ago, it appears not much changed. A plaque on the outside
of the church indicates the first mass was celebrated here in 1961. The
architecture of the building is plain and simple. So simple that I think
the church almost looks like an Episcopal church rather than Catholic. In
reviewing the bulletin and website, it appears there is a very active Hispanic
and Philippino ministry within the parish. Given the diversity of
Montgomery County, this is not surprising. In a different twist that we
don’t usually see, there was choir in full voice during the 4:00 pm Saturday
mass and they were seated right behind the altar. Something new on both
fronts. A choir in use on Saturday and up front and center on the altar.
This
week’s readings were all about growth. Either through transplanting or
from seed. The first reading tells us about the transplant of a tender
shoot of a cedar tree that grows into a tall and majestic cedar, providing
shade for birds of every kind to dwell beneath it. I read this as a
metaphor for God telling us that as long as a spark of faith remains in us, he
can build upon that for our faith to strengthen and grow. The gospel talked
about the lowly mustard seed. The smallest of all seeds on earth.
This too would grow into a large bush that would provide shade for the birds of
the sky. This is compared to the Kingdom of God in the reading. It
started from nothing and grew into something big and held us in its
embrace. Father Steve compared this to the seed that is Jesus and that
broke through the ground and blossomed into the light that is the son of
Man. He also shared the seed of faith in his life and how it germinated
through his discernment and vocation. This was the strong faith in his
grandmother that she planted in him by what he witnessed in her. One
thing he said she always insisted on was picking up hitchhikers. She felt
it was her duty as a good Christian to help others. Father Steve offered
that the most important thing we can give someone is our time. Credited
to Pastor Rick Warren in his book, a Purpose Driven Life, this is a tie-in to
previous discussions from our journey. “Live life like you mean it.”
I think, when people give us their time we should view it as a gift. That
is time they cannot get back, just as the time we give others is time we cannot
get back. I read this morning in a article about retirement, that having
a plan to retire is essential. Making a decision on retirement is vital
and not making a decision is still making a decision. Live life like you
mean it. Time is finite. Make the most of it.
The Gospel goes on to tell us that God speaks to us in
parables so that we may better understand his teachings. In a sense he is
dumbing it down. I appreciate this. A lot of the concepts in the
bible are deep and require lots of reflection so I appreciate the
tutorial. This year long journey (which we are approximately halfway through)
has been very enlightening to me, both spiritually as well as culturally.
I have learned a lot about myself, my faith and my beloved (that’s Mary in case
you aren’t following. Mary my wife, not the original Mary, as in the
virgin…see earlier Roamin’ Catholics.)
Dinner this week was at Urban Butcher. A
recommendation from a colleague at work. Definitely a place that lives up
to its name. Its meat, meat and more meat. We had what the menu
referred to as the “Early Supper.” This consisted of a prix fix
menu of items, including an appetizer and desert. This was a twofer that
we shared. I ordered it referring to the entrée as a pile of meat (which
really amused our server) but it was really called the mountain of meat.
The main course consisted of steak, pork, lamb, chicken and sausage.
Definitely not for the faint of heart or anyone who actually cares about their
general heart health. This entrée is a cardiologists nightmare but oh so
delicious. Everything in moderation, right. More salads this week I
guess. I definitely recommend this place to any carnivores out
there. Located in downtown Silver Spring, another place that I haven’t
been to in quite sometime and barely recognized with all the changes that have
taken place since it was my old stomping grounds in the late 80s early
90s. Well another one in the books. See everyone next week for
another installment of Roamin’ Catholics, Body and Soul.
HERS:
Mass this week was for the early birds, with a 4:00 liturgy at Christ the King in Silver Spring, MD followed by an early 5:30 dinner at Urban Butcher, in downtown Silver Spring. This week's celebrant was Fr. Stephen Carter.
Some notables before I get into the "meat" of my writeup. Our first introduction to Fr. Stephen was through scolding... at the beginning of mass, he reprimanded the congregation for not responding loud enough when it was our turn to say something. Not a great first impression, but as mass went on, he more than made up for it. And as a result, every "Amen" was said with vim and vigor after that. Another interesting tidbit was the location of the fourteen member choir. They were all seated right behind the altar. This is a first for our Roamin' days, and I do believe the first time I have ever seen this. The choir was very... hmmm, how do I put this? Loud. Everyone sang as if they were auditioning for a part in "Cats". They were also very... hmmm, what is the right word? Spirited. They were very spirited. They were very good, and I could sing as loud as I wanted because their voices drowned out my singing.
The readings this week touched on the theme of gardening. The first reading talked about taking a shoot from a cedar tree and planting it up on a high mountain to grow into a tree and bear fruit. The Gospel was that of the mustard seed. Although it is the smallest of seeds it grows into a large, unshakable tree. And that brings me to my favorite part of mass, the homily.
This fifteen minute, two-thumbs up homily did not disappoint and really got me thinking. Fr. Stephen nicely tied the readings and his homily together with a gardening theme. He started by sharing a personal experience with a batch of cherry tomatoes he had that went bad. He threw them away, but then decided to crush them and throw them outside. The seeds from the tomatoes took root and he said he had tomatoes well into the Fall. Next, he talked about the mustard seed and how the mustard seed can be likened to the Kingdom of God. It is a tiny seed, but it grows into a large tree. Next, he discussed seeds and faith. He asked a profound question. Who planted your seed of faith?
And that got me thinking. What does a seed need to grow into a plant or a tree? It needs time, good soil, sunshine, water, and nutrients. What happens if you plant a seed and do nothing? Well, unless the conditions are ideal, it will probably not grow. Hmmm... and that brings me to faith. For some of us, the seed of faith was planted in us when we were young. How do we nourish that seed? What is our good soil? What is our sunshine? What is our water? What are our nutrients? Do we live our life in a way that cultivates the seed, or in a way that causes it to wither? Throughout a lifetime, it may be some of both. Fortunately for us, the seed never dies. We are given opportunity after opportunity to cultivate our seed of faith. A couple weeks back, I asked Lou why weeds grow so fast while plants grow slowly. Weeds are the things in life that keep us from cultivating our faith... and they grow fast and abundantly. We have to watch out for weeds and pluck them regularly. I know for me, there are times when I have a green thumb with my faith, but at other times my seed is lacking in what it needs to grow. And yes, there are the weeds...
I see my faith as a journey. Sometimes the road is clear and there is smooth sailing. Sometimes there are traffic jams, hills, wrong turns... the list goes on.
The homily ended with a passage from The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren...
“Time is your most precious gift because you only have a set amount of it. You can make more money, but you can't make more time. When you give someone your time, you are giving them a portion of your life that you'll never get back. Your time is your life. That is why the greatest gift you can give someone is your time.
It is not enough to just say relationships are important; we must prove it by investing time in them. Words alone are worthless. "My children, our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action." Relationships take time and effort, and the best way to spell love is
"T-I-M-E.”
Love this! Who gets your time? Does some of it go to God?
We moved on to a recommended restaurant in downtown Silver Spring called Urban Butcher. Not a lot of seed-based foods here. This place was about meat, meat, and more meat. One of my favorite restaurant offerings is charcuterie. We started the evening with a charcuterie plate, and interestingly enough as fate would have it, there was a tiny reminder of the gospel... a small bowl of stone ground mustard!
Have a great week! Don't forget to water your seeds:)
And this week's Soulfie:
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