Parables communicate life of the spirit. The life of consciousness and understanding and wisdom. Without these we cannot say that we are really alive. Without growing in these things we can hardly say that we are growing at all. (…) It was considered at the time that the mustard seed was the smallest of all seeds and that tiny seed grew into this huge shrub. That’s the wonder of that large welcoming hospitable growth. It grew out of something tiny and it had to break open. It had to die before that life could come out. So there is just a sense of wonder at the process of growth itself and also the the goodness of it, the beauty and the goodness of growth and life in accordance with nature. And the goodness and the beauty of it is reflected in that beautiful image that now this big tree is a place of welcome, a place of hospitality to birds and all creatures to come and sit in its shade. To come and be restored and renewed.
(Homily 16 June 2024 by Laurence Freeman OSB )
