Fuel my thirst for knowledge, Lord, but help also my unbelief - Daily Reflections October 29,2013

THE KINGDOM IS FOR THE LITTLE ONES

 

A little boy was being introduced by his mother to Scriptures. Every day, the mother would read to him a portion from stories in the Bible. One day, eagerly anticipating his daily Bible story session, he opened the big and old family Bible with fascination. Then, something fell out from the Bible. It was an old leaf from a tree, pressed in between the pages as a bookmark. “Mom, look what I found!” “What have you got there, son?” his mother asked. With astonishment, the young boy answered, “It’s Adam’s undergarment!”

       Ah, the faith and simplicity of children. They are devoid of the critical sophistication and intellectual disbelief of educated adults that we pride ourselves to have.

       Jesus describes the Kingdom today with two simple imageries — mustard seed and yeast — that illustrate the dynamics of growth, from smallness to greatness. The growth of a mustard seed or that of yeast happens in a manner that we do not see nor understand. Nature has its own laws and rhythm before which we could only stand in awe and reverence.

       I teach a course on Genesis and the human beginnings. We study the creation of man so as to develop a biblical basis for Ethical Anthropology. My students would ask, “Why study Genesis when it cannot answer most of our scientific questions on creation and the origin of man?”

       The mystery of creation, or the Kingdom of God for that matter, cannot and should not be seen only from the vantage point of science—simply because it is beyond science. This is not to say that we refrain from critical understanding. This is only to say that faith seeking understanding should always leave room for the mysterious.

       This is why Jesus can only use parables to describe little aspects of the Kingdom. It is only through images and languages known to man that little facets of the Kingdom can be told. Let us ask the Lord for wisdom that leaves ample space for faith to operate. Fr. Joel O. Jason

 

REFLECTION QUESTION: Even science knows very little about the vast entirety of reality. Do you have a tendency to dismiss the “unscientific” as non-truth?

 

Fuel my thirst for knowledge, Lord, but help also my unbelief. Amen.