Growth of the Seed: Can Your Senses Know It’s Growing?

July’s Scriptures teach the Work of God. Many of this month’s Matthean parables will focus on human inability to prove scientifically this work’s existence.

The Parable of the Sower has its focus on what happens to roots. Indeed, what happens to the roots is happening underground—unseen. So also, humans can hide their empty lives from each other. Their hearts can hide lack of understanding or fear of persecution or a self-oriented world.

The Parable of the Weeds uses the metaphors of sleep and hidden-root-systems to show elements hidden from scientific discovery. In this parable, the enemy of the Sower plants when humans can’t look. Later the Sower focuses not on the weeds above the ground, but on the hidden damage to the roots.

Humans give thanks for God’s Work. We thankful recognize our limits as God’s creatures. We thank God for any fruitfulness or harvested goodness which we incompletely see in this life.

But even if the first seeds and their roots, coming from the Sower (God Almighty), are hidden, can we take the promising word of the Messiah and his prophets? Can we believe that the Holy One is sowing to bring about the goodness he planned? If its roots grow below the ground, where scientific inquiry can’t reach, can you believe the Church’s canonized Scriptures (writings) which promise it’s growing?

And does the Church invite you to be the hands and feet of God’s work—not just at the Holy Eucharist (which means “thanksgiving”) but also in your life’s action?

From July 1st, there are 45 more days til August 14th—this year’s Rally Day. Whether you’re a ministry leader who’s thinking about your rally day table—or if you’re a parishioner who is wanting your small part in God’s fruitfulness—there’s a new vocabulary for our trusting attitude. For all of us respondents to God’s work, the vocabulary changes for the days ahead include:

Recruit Invite...Delegate Share the ministry...Programs Ministries

Volunteer Serve...Committee Teams...Volunteers Ministers/servant leaders

God gives the growth. Church folk believe without seeing. Let’s recruit invite each other to be signs of that growth.

Yours in Christ
David J. Mossbarger+