HOMILY WEEK 18 06 – Yr II

Faith like a Mustard Seed – Memorial: St Clare

(Hab 1:12-2:4; Ps 9; Mt 17:14-20)

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To a non-swimmer, it seems incredible that a human body could float on water. Bodies are too heavy! When one stops to think of it, it seems incredible that a 747 Jet plane loaded with passengers and luggage can be held up by invisible air, or that a cruise ship with thousands of people aboard, could be held up by molecules of water.

The disciples, called to heal a man’s disturbed son, were just as incredulous. But Jesus told them the smallest amount of faith – faith the size of a mustard seed -could move mountains. I once obtained a bag of mustard seed from a seed plant in my hometown of North Battleford, Sask. and they are truly tiny – about the size of a carrot seed. It is amazing how that small seed can be transformed into a large mustard tree, and how a tiny oak seed can grow into a huge oak tree. But that is the kind of faith Jesus is asking us to have in him.

Surely the disciples wondered how they could ever develop that kind of faith. For that matter, how can we?

The beginning of the answer, according to The Word Among Us, lies in today’s first reading: “I will stand at my guard post, and station myself upon the rampart and keep watch to see what he will say to me” (Habakkuk 2:1). The prophet choses a particular place and posture, pays attention to the signs of the time, and becomes very attentive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. It seems that Habakkuk even journaled, as the Lord asked him to write the vision down and make it plain on tablets!

So must we if our faith is to grow and become like a mustard tree. This is all about contemplative prayer, involving a conducive place, posture, time and above all, pondering the Word of God, seeking only the knowledge of God’s will for us and the power to carry it out (Step 11 of the AA program). I would highly recommend practicing Lectio Divina (reading a passage, meditating on that passage, praying with it and then just being in God’s presence soaking up God’s love). The last stage of this process is Operatio– some way of responding to the Word with which we have prayed. That can be writing in a journal, or for me, writing a love letter to Jesus sharing my feelings about his Word that I have prayed over, as well as working on a homily based on that Word.

All of this is conducive to growing in faith and will help deepen our relationship with God. We will learn what God’s voice sounds like. We will become more familiar with God’s mind and learn more about God’s unfailing love.

Does this sound incredible? No more than floating on water or flying supported only by air, really. Trust the one who made us, to teach us and grow our faith. Let God show us we are made to move mountains.

St. Clare, whom we honor today, certainly had faith the size of a mustard seed that grew to move mountains. She was born in Assisi about the year 1193. At the age of 18, she heard a sermon preached by Francis of Assisi and commit4d herself to a life of poverty. On Passion Sunday 1212 she secretly left home and went to the place where Francis lived with his community. Before the altar in the little church, she received the habit from him and went to live in a nearby Benedictine convent.

Clare was joined by her younger sisters Agnes and others, and the small community moved to San Damiano, near Assisi. Soon after, Clare’s mother and sister Beatrice also joined them. In 1215, Clare was made abbess of the Poor Clares. The women modelled their life on the ideals of St. Francis. They did without shoes, slept on the ground and never ate meat. Before long, other houses were founded in several countries.

Francis taught all his friars’ needs should be met solely from daily contributions. It was Clare’s great desire that her community also practise radical poverty. For 40 years Clare was abbess and never wavered from caring for her community or from assisting Francis. She received papal approval for her own Rule the day before she died – the first rule written by a woman for women. She was credited with many miracles and canonized just two years after her death.

The Eucharist is comparable to the mustard seed of faith that is transformed into a large tree. Very humble gifts of bread and wine are brought forward, blessed, broken, transformed into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, and shared with the faithful, who in turn are transformed into the Body of Christ, the People of God.

May our celebration help make our faith into mustard seeds that will transform us into movers of mountains, like Clare and Francis.