At the ACE Ireland Commissioning Mass last Friday, where we witnessed two young women be sent forth to serve in Alliance for Catholic Education partner schools in the United States, Fr. Michael Drumm’s homily noted two very important (if somewhat trivial at first) facts. The Gospel was the parable of the seed sower – where some of the seed fell on good ground, some in the weeds, and some on the path. Fr. Michael chose to focus his thoughts not on where the seed fell, but rather on its eventual growth. His two simple observations?
1) Grass grows.
2) No one has ever seen grass grow.
He illustrated this with a simple image: if you lie down in the grass, eventually it would grow over you without you noticing (for everyone reading from the Southwest, this phenomenon would occur some places in the world, trust me).
The point is this – in our lives we must trust in our work, in God’s work, without having the ability to “watch the grass grow” and see the fruits of our labors. It’s a very simple and obvious idea, but one that bears reminding. Yesterday at Mass, we watched the 2nd Classes of Kennedy Park receive their First Communion, with the choir aided wonderfully by Molly on piano. One wonders how it is possible for these children to maintain the joy and the reverence that they brought into the celebration of the Eucharist amidst a society that, outside of their school religion classes, doesn’t foster a growing and developing faith. What can we possibly do?
We can trust. We can trust in our presence here, in the support of the community of Clonard, in the work and efforts of their teachers, and in the strength of the faith of these children. We can trust that a visit from the Notre Dame Folk Choir will inspire and empower them further. We can trust that God’s work can and will grow from the seeds that we plant, even though we may never see it.
Have a beautiful Monday, and God Bless,
Kurt
