Small Beginnings

Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Reflecting on the Word

By Dr. Karla J. Bellinger

My garden experiment is to grow all of the vegetables that we  eat in a year. But to harvest lettuce for the whole year is tricky; it  takes planning, for I have to replant even before I harvest. So for my  January crop, today I gently lay tiny seeds in the soil to germinate  under the grow lights in my basement. The mature crop that I seek  is contained right here in this small beginning. 

As I plant and pray, distressing flashes from the news play in  my head: images of children in refugee camps, leaders who lie and  betray. What is the matter with the human race, I wonder? 

Why does it sometimes feel that you, God, allow evil to win?  Come on! Do something! 

In the saga of Adam and Eve, you planted the seed of free will and  gave those first parents a choice. They blew it. They went their own  way. Free will seems to be at the core of human wrongdoing. Why,  Lord, when we could choose goodness, do we not? 

Yet even then, you wrapped the human race in love and forgiveness.  You, Creator-Most-Excellent, are a painstaking planner. You planted  the seed of salvation into the womb of the world, preserving Mary  as immaculate so that she could be a pure vessel for the One who  would come to rescue us. The end that you planned was contained  right there in that tiny beginning. 

So that seed of free will, though a difficulty, is not a mistake? The  final end that you are looking for is our graced but freely given yes:  our yes to you each day; our yes at the end of life; our yes at the  conclusion of time? You must be planting for an abundant harvest!

Consider/Discuss 

  • Do you also ever felt impatient with God’s patience? I see the distress of  the world and call out, “Come on, God! Won’t you just do something?  Why do you keep trying to work through us human beings when you  know that we are fatally flawed? Come on, God!” How can we grow  to trust in God’s broader and bigger plan for human history without  descending into glib or superficial answers? 
  • There is much good fruit in this world that does not make the news. Where  have you witnessed someone’s yes that is bearing an abundant harvest?  What if all the people of good will in this world said a more robust yes to  goodness and justice and honesty? How would that change history? 

Living and Praying with the Word 

Lord God of all creation, we are not alone in asking you: what  is the matter with the human race? What about all of the troubles  of the world? All through history, people have pleaded with you to  intervene more clearly. Yet you are at work. Thank you for all of the  little acts of love and selflessness that go on in homes and hospitals,  churches and schools, homeless shelters and businesses. Thank you  for free will, for being so willing to work through us as friends and  co-workers.

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