Eat what we believe, become what we eat!

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time June 16, 2024

Ez 17:22-24 Ps 92:2-3, 13-14, 15-162 Cor 5:6-10 Mk 4:26-34

Below is my written draft of my homily, which I did not read. I gave the same homily at Mass, but this time I did not read it but I put together my thoughts below about what I wanted to share. Here is the livestream link to my homily, however, there appears to be audio issues with the livestream.

https://www.youtube.com/live/wEACWbqU0pw?si=7eSDE5tF-HR23DXU&t=1077

We have in our readings today a message of hope.  We may not pick up on it as the message of hope is subtle, but it is there.

In our first reading, Ezekiel is consoling his people with a message of God’s Kingdom to come.  But before we look at this reading, I’d like to go back to last week’s first reading from the book of Genesis where we heard part of the story of Adam and Eve when they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and a message of hope which comes from this story of creation and of man [human race].

So, a couple of quick questions about the first three chapters of Genesis.

• How many trees were there in the center of the Garden of Eden?  There were two, the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and bad. Genesis 2:8-9 Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and he placed there the man whom he had formed.  Out of the ground the Lord God made various trees grow that were delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of knowledge of good and bad.
  

• What was the instruction that God gave Adam and Eve as to which trees they could or could not eat from?  Man could eat from every seed-bearing plant and every tree with seed-bearing fruit, but they could not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and bad. Genesis 1:28-29 God blessed them, saying to them: “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.  Have dominion over the fish of the see, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth.”  God also said: “See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food. Genesis 2:15-17The Lord God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it.  The Lord God gave man this order.  “You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and bad.  From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die.”

We all know what happens next, right?  Adam and Eve are tempted, and they disobey by eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and bad.  Then God banishes them from the garden.  Why?  Why does He do this?  Was this a punishment for what they did?  Or could this have been mercy and the opportunity for hope?

Genesis 3:22-23 Then the Lord God said: “See!  The man has become like one of us, knowing what is good and what is bad!  Therefore, he must not be allowed to put out his hand to take fruit from the tree of life also, and thus eat of it and live forever.”  The Lord God therefore banished him from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he had been taken.

We were banished from Eden so that we could not eat from the tree of Life, which we were not initially forbidden to eat from.  This is God’s mercy towards us so that we would not live eternally in our fallen nature.  With a hope that someday we would once again have access to a new tree of life.

And so, this tree that Ezekiel unknowingly speaks of is the cross on the hill of Calvary, and the fruit is God’s mercy of salvation open to all peoples, as reflected by the birds of every kind that shall dwell in it.  The evergreen cedar tree which is a symbol of endurance, eternal life, and immortality.  Its wood is highly valued because it does not rot easily.  It is a symbol of the new tree of life, grown from the tender shoot from the crest of a cedar.  A shoot who is a Davidic descendant, a new King.  This is the message of hope that Ezekiel proclaims.

Saint Paul also proclaims a message of hope to the people of Corinth: “We are always courageous” but we must be patient as we wait in hope and as we “walk by faith, and not by sight.”  Believing in what we cannot see.  Christian hope implies uncertainty and requires patience.

Then in Mark’s Gospel we are given two parables about the Kingdom of God.  The first is a man scattering seed on the ground and does not know how the seed sprouts and grows.  When I first read this in preparation for my homily, I immediately thought of Jack and the beanstalk.  He traded in the family cow for magical beans.  He did not know how the magic bean would work, but he had hope in them, and when they were thrown to the ground they grew overnight into a giant beanstalk. 

Today we know how seeds germinate and grow into plants and trees.  But still, when a farmer plants seeds, he must hope that with the watering and fertilizing, the seeds will produce a bountiful harvest. 

The second parable is about the mustard seed that grows into the largest of plants, and like the cedar tree in our first reading, becomes a place where birds of every kind can dwell in its shade.  Often, we associate this mustard seed as the seed of faith that is planted in each and every one of us.  A seed that must be cared for, nurtured, and cultivated so we may grow in our faith and be able to proclaims God’s message of hope, the message of reconciliation and salvation.

And just how do these parables tie in with the message from Ezekiel and the tree of life?  It is the fruit of salvation.  The fruit of salvation that comes from the Cross of Christ is the Eucharist.  The Eucharist, which is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ, is the seed-bearing fruit from the new Tree of Life, which we are invited to partake of every time we come to Mass.  The seed of this fruit must be cultivated in our lives, so that it may grow and bare more fruit, and we may become more like Christ, and one day enter into eternal life with Him.

In closing, I’ll leave you with this final thought.  “Eat what we believe, become what we eat.”  This phrase “Eat what we believe, become what we eat” is attributed to St. Augustin, who said, “Behold what you are, become what you eat.”  These phrases used in the Catholic context describe what the experience of receiving the Eucharist should be like.  When we receive the Eucharist, we become the Body of Christ, united with Jesus through his body and blood. 

“Eat what we believe, become what we eat!” “Behold what you are, become what you eat!”