Reflection of the Week - 18th June 2024

By Don Rodriguez Jr. ’83

Posted Jun 18, 2024 in Faith

Gospel: Mk 4:26 – 34

Thirty-four years ago today, a mustard seed was planted in my life when I wed my wife, Kim. Like the seed’s gradual and sometimes difficult journey to a full-grown tree, our marriage has grown and weathered storms like years of infertility, a failed adoption attempt, and prolonged unemployment/underemployment. Yet God’s blessings abound, and our marriage has produced fruit and matured to have a solid base and root structure, like raising our two adopted children, who are now amazing grown adults.

Our faith journeys can take similar paths. Seeds are planted in us at our baptism, confirmation, and every time we receive the Eucharist. Like seeds, our faith needs time to come to fruition. It must be nourished, exposed to the life-giving light of God’s word, nurtured, pruned, and guided. As Christians, we are called to strive to be more like Christ in each passing moment of our lives. Like the mustard seed’s growth, our efforts to do so will ebb and flow through peaks and valleys.

What’s important is that we keep on the journey, striving to get closer to God by being more Christ-like today than we were yesterday, last week, or last year. Never give up. Like the tree’s imperceptible growth, this journey can have minuscule steps. Mother Teresa once said, ‘We know only too well that what we are doing is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. But if the drop were not there, the ocean would be missing something.’ Every contribution, no matter how small, is valuable and necessary.

What act will be one of those drops in our ocean journey today to be closer to the Lord?

Reference

Don Rodriguez Jr. ’83, FaithND - Reflection - June 16, 2024.

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