REFLECTIONS: GROWING IN RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LORD JESUS.
FR, BENOIT MUKAMBA, CSSP
The Lord Jesus teaches us today through three parables. First of all we ought to remember that the Word of God is like a double-edged sword. All three parables touch the interior self and the external world or other people. The reign of God is growing in each heart and in the world.
I would prefer starting this reflection with the parable of the mustard seed. The growth of a mustard seed into becoming a large bush makes me think about the natural growth of a human baby. A biologist sees the origin of a baby from a microscopic size into a small baby who appears on the day of birth. The family rejoices to receive a new member in their household. That baby enters into its new family without knowing any of the members but only recognizes its dependence on the mother. Some years later, the same baby becomes a genius in human science with the ultimate scholarly degree. Just, think about it! From the womb, God planted a seed of intelligence in the baby. However, the process of life of that baby was nurtured and provided with the proper environment for the development of its intellectual capacity.
The same could be said of the human relationship with Jesus. The life of grace received from God ought to be nurtured and developed in the course of life so that one may grow in holiness. For God has redeemed us and filled us with the Holy Spirit. It is our responsibility to allow it to grow. A Christian family is the first school for promoting spiritual growth and closer relationship with Jesus. Personal reading and meditation on the Holy Scripture makes one acquainted with God and his Son and the Holy Spirit. Bible reading helps one model one’s own life on the life of Jesus. The Church gathering brings the Word and life of Jesus actual in the proclaimed Word and the Last Supper shared. Slowly and habitually, God’s reign becomes dominant in the individual Christian. One’s life changes and becomes visibly animated by faith, hope and charity.
Such a life radiates to others around and helps other individuals to undergo the same process of growth in the spirit. The world gets transformed through the work of evangelization of the mature Christians to reach out and bring others to Christ. Those who accept Christ in their lives form the Church. The Church members continue with their on-going growth in the Lord until the full revelation of the children of God.
The continued growth in the Lord implies that we are never a finished product but a product in the process of improvement. A Christian is a student in the school of Jesus, the teacher. The parable of wheat and weeds intervenes here to teach us that there is both good and the bad in each of us as well as in the world. From Romans 7:19, we read, “For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want.” Apostle Paul acknowledges the struggle and need for ongoing conversion needed by every Christian. This means that Paul was still fighting the weeds in him, just as most of us are. But, God in his providence and leniency allows us to live on and provide with help to us until the day He calls us. God doesn’t end up with us on the day of our death but purifies us even in the after death in order to welcome us.
The parable of yeast in a mixture of wheat flour emphasizes on the growth of the reign of God in the heart and the world. The influence of the reign of God cannot be negligible. The Word of God has changed an extraordinary number of people and permeated the life of some individuals so profoundly that they, in turn, took actions that changed the course of the world.
The Word of God remains a double edged sword; it cuts both the self and the other as well. It grows in me and in you. So let us abide by the school of Jesus. And the Spirit of God will assist us to be good students of his Son.