Today’s first reading speaks of taking something small as the shoot of a cedar tree and planting it. As it grows it will one day become one of the biggest trees. Through the imagery of the cedar tree, God makes a promise to the people regarding the salvation of the world. The Israelites do not know it yet, but He is speaking about His Only Son. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the splendid cedar that produces much fruit and gives rest and shelter to those who seek Him. God is saying that He will send someone who will one day become their Saviour. He will come as a small baby but will one day grow up to become the Saviour of the world and He will give rest to His people.

The Gospel proclamation from today echoes the same message. The Lord Jesus speaks of two parables— The Parable of the Growing Seed and the Parable of the Mustard Seed. The first parable teaches us how the Lord will work within us and the second parable teaches us what will happen to us. A tiny mustard seed is planted and grows into a large tree. The Lord is teaching us that we must plant the seed of faith within us. When this faith is nourished, it will grow within us shaping us into the people God created us to be. Then we will be able to bring people to the Lord and become a blessing not only to ourselves but others around us. Our role model is the Lord Jesus Christ.

When God the Father sent His only Son into the world, He did not send Him as a fully grown man, with power and strength. But instead, the Lord Jesus came into the world, as we do—as a helpless baby. The Church teaches us that while the Lord is 100% divine, He is also 100% human. As a baby He needed protection, love and care which he received from Mother Mary and St. Joseph. He needed to gradually grow up and learn things as we all do. None of us come to this world knowing everything. And it is the same with the Lord Jesus. Mother Mary and St. Joseph taught Him everything He needed to develop a firm foundation in the Lord. As He greerw up, He nurtured this tiny seed of faith in God. He spent time in prayer, meditated on the scriptures, got to know God the Father and built a relationship with God.

The Lord is calling us to do the same. The Psalmist gives us the recipe to building a relationship with God. Psalm 92:2 says, “pro- claiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night”. We must commune with the Lord each morning as we rise and each night before we go to sleep. It may seem like a daunting task but as we give time to the Lord, He will make it easier. Personally, I have often found prayer a struggle. Each day I get up wanting to pray and as I collect my bible and earphones and sit in front of the Lord, I remember a thousand things I must do. On a scale of importance from one to ten, each task seems to be a 10. I feel like prayer can take a backseat. As I journeyed with the Lord, I began to realize that putting off prayer did not help me in any way. Instead, the important to do list did not seem that important after I put off prayer. Maybe many others have experienced this as well. Once, a few years ago Fr. Ken Barker came to Sri Lanka and spoke at a weekly servers meeting. He said when we sit to pray and things we must do come to mind, we can get out a piece of paper and write them down. We must make a list of the things that must get done and keep it aside until after we have finished praying. Something so simple as a to do list made my prayer time easier. Another tip that transformed my prayer life is the time I spend with the Lord. Lalith Thaththa always teaches us to start small. We can start with a 15-minute or 30-minute prayer time and slowly increase it. If we faithfully sit at His feet, the Lord can do wonders in our lives.

In the Gospel Proclamation, the parable about the growing seed illustrates what will happen to us when we consistently give time to the Lord in prayer. In the parable the man scatters seeds on the ground and then allows nature to take its course. The man does not concern himself about how the seed will grow or if it will grow at all. Mark 4:28 says, “All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.” All of this happens without the man’s help. In the same way, when we pray each day, the Lord will slowly do things in our hearts; changing us from the inside out. I recently read a post on Facebook that sums this up—Once a man was asked what he gained from prayer. The man replied, ‘I lost many things: anger, ego, greed, depression, insecurity and the fear of death’. Sometimes the answer to our prayer is not gaining but losing, which ultimately is the gain.

In the Second Reading, St. Paul speaks of either being at home in the body and being at home with Christ. We cannot have both. With- out prayer, we can be at home in our body and away from the Lord. However, when we are connected to God and have a relationship with Him through prayer, we will find that we are at home with the Lord and away from the body. This is the miracle God does inside us.

Prayer: Abba Father, I pray for the gift of faith as big as a mustard seed. Lord, let that seed grow within me, that I may be a faithful servant to the end of my days. Amen.