Saturday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
One of the positive outcomes of the pandemic is that many people have turned to the great outdoors and nature to find refuge. Today in the gospel reading, Jesus tells His disciples that there is much we can learn through the world around us. The birds and the flowers are dressed in beautiful array and are provided all of what they need from God’s loving providence. Jesus encourages us to grow in our faith and trust in God’s love for all that we need.
In the gospel, Jesus reminds His listeners that they cannot serve “mammon and God”. When we become obsessed with the things of the world, we lose sight of God in the midst of the struggle. We worry more about how we look and if we are keeping up with the fashion of the world around us. Jesus turns to the created world to help describe the level of trust that we are called to live out in our relationship with God. Jesus uses the birds of the air to illustrate how we are called to not worry about having enough. The flowers are clothed God’s beauty even in their fleeting existence. Jesus calls His followers to seek God first knowing that God will provide all that we need. Our worries about many things do not have any purpose, and they reflect our lack of trust in our God’s abundant love.
Nature has always been a great source of comfort and revelation of God’s love for me. Our family enjoys watching the birds at the feeders and finding beautiful flowers on our walks outdoors. As I reflect on this reading, I am reminded that these experiences of nature all around me can be reminders of God’s love and my call to greater faith. I have for many years associated purple flowers with the love of God. I have shared this special fondness to friends, and they now point them out and bring this to mind. I believe that God provides many signs of His care for us if we look for them.
Recognizing God’s blessings in the created world is one way to grow in our faith. This does not mean that life will be without struggles and hardships. Again, nature reveals God’s plans for growth. There is a natural cycle of birth, life and eventually death that occurs throughout creation. In all of this process, God provides all that is needed for fullness. We can learn from nature, when we see God’s hand in the many aspects of transformation that we experience realizing that God is always present and always loving even in the midst of difficulty and death. When we stay focused on our relationship with God, we carry this assurance of God’s accompaniment at all times. God always loves everything that He creates.
Creation is a perfect revelation of God and God’s love for us. I think that St. Basil says it well. “I want creation to penetrate you with so much admiration that wherever you go, the least plant will bring you clear remembrance of the Creator. A single plant, a blade of grass, or one speck of dust is sufficient to occupy all your intelligence in beholding the art with which it has been made.” When we look and learn from all that we see and experience in the world around us, we will find God, and in God’s loving embrace we will find joy and peace.
Loving God, Jesus reminds us that You have created the world out of love. Open our eyes, ears and hearts to see Your love all around us. May we be open to Your Spirit as we deepen our relationship and trust in You. We pray this in Christ’s name. AMEN.
—Marylynn Herchline