In the second reading of our mass today there is a beautiful phrase from St. Paul when he says we walk by faith and not by sight. This is a summary of what the Christian life is all about. We see everything as ordinary people see them but a Christian’s primary orientation is by faith not by sight. When we walk by sight we see things as everyone sees them, we see our politicians, we see Laois beating Carlow to reach the Leinster final, our music icons, etc. When it comes to God and his presence, we don’t see him like this, we see him through faith. God’s perception goes beyond reason without contradicting reason. In the first reading, Ezekiel who was a temple priest was writing to the Jews who were in Exile, we could say it was the lowest moment in the history of the Jewish people, they were scattered, denigrated, dejected depressed, lost all hope, doubtful of all the promises that God had made and here we have Ezekiel walking by faith not by sight when he says: From the top…”. What is God up to? Sometimes it’s hard to know. Looking at things by sight, by ordinary perception sometimes it would seem that everything is lost, you would become very discouraged and begin to lose all hope but we walk by faith not by sight and our faith tells us that God is always present in our world and is always at work. In the gospel of our mass today, which is written 5 centuries after Ezekiel, Jesus uses this parable of the mustard seed to describe how God is working thought we cannot see it. Mustard seed which is the smallest of the seeds will grow will grow to be the biggest shrub of them. We walk by faith and not by sight. Jesus uses this parable of the mustard seed to describe how God is working thought we cannot see it. Even the smallest beginnings God is working through it. Imagine for a moment the beginning of Christianity, how it started you have a 30 year old man being crucified on a cross, all his followers have abandoned him, his adversaries mocking him, talk about a small begging but yet through the power of the resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit, Christianity became a worldwide power; and still is today. This pattern is repeated all throughout the history of the church.

St. Francis of Assisi, snobbish son of a wealthy cloth merchant, rejected the wealth of his father and went to live a life somewhat like a hippy, once again a small beginning and as he prayed for enlightenment in the Church of San Damiano just outside Assisi he heard the voice of God asking him to rebuild his church which was in ruins, understanding this to be the church of San Damiano where he was praying he began stone by stone to rebuild the church, but he soon realised that God was entrusting him a bigger task. Here we have again a small beginning, a mustard seed; he soon attracted followers and 100 years later his congregation came to be a worldwide organization and still is today. St. Theresa of Calcutta left the comfort of her convent and went out into the poorest slums of India, a hopeless case written off be many, but we walk by faith and not by sight. She soon attracted followers and now her daughters of charity are all over the world and she said if there were poor people on the moon we would go there. A mustard seed, very small at the beginning but yet it grew into a powerful large shrub. How many times in the history of Christianity has the faith, has our church being written off by conventional regular thinking and wisdom? Never forget that we walk by faith and not by sight. Never give up on God, never follow what the ordinary perception tells us, look with the eyes of faith and appreciate Gods work in your life and in our world, rebuilding our church. Song by the Dubliners: Don’t give up till it’s over, don’t quit if you can. The weigh upon your shoulders will make you a better man. Grasp your nettle tightly, though it will burn, treat your failures lightly, your luck is bound to turn. Look at the autumn flowers how they wither and fade, with nature’s hidden powers, next year they’ll be remade. Watch the full moon rising, like a ghost of the sun. Our dawn will be more surprising, when a new day has begun. Don’t give up till it’s over, don’t quit if you can. The weight upon your shoulders will make you a better man. We walk by faith and not by sight