Trying to Find Rest?
(Fr. Andrew’s Homily for Sunday June 16th 2024)
The parable of the mustard seed is
meant to convey the excellence of Jesus’ Gospel. Jesus employs this comparison
to show the power and beauty of the Good News of salvation for all human
beings. The seed of the Gospel is planted by preaching. The mustard seed, once
planted, grows so large and extends its branches so far and wide, that the
birds of the sky can find rest in its shade. Who are these birds?
St. Thomas Aquinas composed a book entitled
“The Golden Chain.” It is a very particular commentary on the four Gospels. The
Golden Chain goes through each and every line and section of the four Gospels, reporting
at each place the best commentaries that Aquinas could find. So, for example,
for this parable, Aquinas quotes ten short phrases from five different authors explaining
this particular text. The authors he quotes are always saintly Fathers of the Church
or famous commentaries of the Bible that were available at his time. It is a
great work and whenever you struggle with understanding a particular text in
the Gospel, “The Golden Chain” is one of the best places you can go to get a
sense of what the Bible means.[1]
So, I wanted to understand who these
birds were, who come and find rest at the shade of the mustard tree. I went to “The
Golden Chain” and found two quotes:
This first one is a quote from Theophylact,
an eleventh century Orthodox Bishop (keep in mind, Aquinas does not write his
own commentary on the Golden Chain: he just connects the best phrases he found
from other writers): “Most brief indeed is the word of faith; Believe in God,
and thou shalt be saved. But the preaching of it has been spread far and wide
over the earth, and increased so, that the birds of heaven, that is, contemplative
men, sublime in understanding and knowledge, dwell under it. For how many
wise men among the Gentiles, quitting their wisdom, have found rest in the
preaching of the Gospel! Its preaching then is greater than all.”
The second quote is from a certain Jerome:
“that seed is very small in fear, but great when it has grown into charity,
which is greater than all herbs: for "God is love," [1 John 4:16]
whilst "all flesh is grass." [Isa 40:6] But the boughs which it puts
forth are those of mercy and compassion, since under its shade the poor of
Christ, who are meant by the living creatures of the heavens, delight to
dwell.”
So, in the first text, the birds of the sky are contemplative
men and women, people who are in search for the truth, people who thirst for
truth, for answers... they find rest in the Gospel’s message. In the second
text, the birds of the sky are the poor of Christ, children of God in need of
help, in need of compassion, forgiveness and consolation. Are we not all
looking for answers? Are we not all in need of compassion and help? Like birds,
we need protection and rest... but we are birds of the sky: we belong to
Heaven, we are from above.
Birds do not rest on the ground below: they are not safe there.
They do spend some time on the ground, perhaps looking for food, taking a break
from a long fly, but their nest is always high. In a similar way, we Christians
cannot be completely disconnected from earthly things: we need to sleep, eat,
work, etc. But we cannot make our nest in those things. We cannot find our rest
there: “Our soul is restless unless it rests in You, oh Lord,” as St. Augustine
said. Also, a bird on the ground is an easier victim for predators. When
someone is always immersed in worldly things, it is easy for the devil to find him:
temptations are often connected with worldly things.
Today’s Gospel is a reminder that our true rest, the one we
are always looking for, the one we usually look for in the wrong places, is
actually in God himself. He is that large tree offering its branches for us to
rest, to finally rest from so much fear and anxiety, from so much hatred and
abandonment, from so much despair and sadness. He is the Friend who will never
disappoint you, who will always forgive you, who will never abandon you, who
will always have the right answer... Why do we not come to Him more often? “Come
to me, all of you who are wearied and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give
you rest” (Matthew 11:28)
[1] Aquinas’ “Golden Chain” or “Catena Aurea” (its
Latin name) can be found at the following website, https://isidore.co/aquinas/ (“St. Thomas
Aquinas's Works in English”): go to the section “Biblical Commentaries” and
find each Gospel separately, i.e., “Catena Aurea: Matthew,” “Catena Aurea:
Mark,” etc. Keep in mind that you need to look for “Catena Aurea”, which
is “golden chain” in Latin.
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