A Mulberry Tree in the Cloister Garden of Hereford Cathedral, UK, and a Mustard Seed, Praise.Com

[Jesus said] “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”      Luke 17:6.

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With a typical city-dweller’s ignorance, I had no idea what a mulberry tree looks like, or even how big it is! But I sort of knew that a mustard seed must be fairly small – and there they both are, above. It is quite a sizable tree, that’s for sure. Apparently the mulberry berry is delicious when ripe (and the tarpaulin under the tree is to prevent the fruit from staining the footpath). As ever, Jesus knew exactly what he was talking about, but I wonder if this is another example of hyperbole, which we saw on the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time a few weeks ago. But I am fairly sure that not one of us has faith strong enough to move that tree into the Atlantic Ocean (or the Irish Sea, which is nearer Hereford!). Are we being criticized for lack of faith here by the Lord himself? And why? Should we be insulted or…..? But frankly, what would be the point of one’s faith being capable of that? We have faith enough to be reading this webpage don’t we? And we have goodwill enough to trust that the Lord will guide us in what we do and say in normal times and places. And each week we receive the strength from our encounter with the Lord at Mass to be his obedient servant through the week. And that is the point of being God’s good servant, not even requiring a ‘thank you’ for what we are expected to be doing. It is, in a sense, simply our job to be servants of the Lord. Payment is in the satisfaction of what we do, knowing it to be right and good. It is certainly nice to be recognized for doing the right thing, but it should not be necessary. There should be an inner peace knowing we are doing the Lord’s will.

Habakkuk is reported as saying something we almost certainly have said in our own day: Why do you let me see ruin; why must I look at misery? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and clamorous discord. That could easily be taken from tonight’s TV newscast from somewhere in the world or, indeed, our own backyard. God seems to assure him that this too will pass and peace will descend: “…if it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late”. God is talking of justice. In support of that promised peace, Paul says to Timothy, “For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control”. And this all because “We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do” from today’s gospel. And remember the Lord himself is the perfect example of this total obedience to God’s will, to its sometimes bitter end.

So today’s readings really give us an unbiased picture of the true servant of the Lord. Yes, things are terrible in the world. Yes we should be upstanding in the face of everything bad. Yes we know how to behave in the face of all that because we are God’s servants. But we also know how it is all going to end if we keep the faith, even strong enough to move mulberry trees into the sea, because our faith is strong enough even to move mountains! As St. Paul says to us today: “For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control”. Those are very strong characteristics, and used correctly they will nourish our faith in God and provide the required direction, always seeking the ultimate source of that power, the universal love of God for each one of us, as strong and as enduring as that mulberry tree above, fruitful, strong and life-giving.

Ron Kelleher, What Unique Trait Should Christians Share with Redwood Trees? June 2016.

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