I Can Only Imagine

October 30, 2018

I am sure we have all dreamt about heaven. One of my favorite songs is I Can Only Imaginebecause it paints a picture of arriving in heaven. “Surrounded by your Glory, what will my heart feel? Will I dance for you Jesus, or in awe of you be still? Will I stand in your presence, or to my knees will I fall? Will I sing ‘Hallelujah’; will I be able to speak at all? I can only imagine.” It seems like the disciples in today’s gospel were also dreaming of heaven and who better to ask about it than the one who created it! It seems like Jesus wants to be extremely thoughtful in his answering this question, as I’m sure it is one of those quandaries, “how do you describe something that is indescribable?”  His thoughtfulness brings about two separate images, one that the men of his time would be able to relate to, and one that the women of his time could relate to. I appreciate that right off the bat we know that heaven is open to all. 

The first image is that of a man that plants a tiny little mustard seed in the garden and when that seed is fully grown it becomes so large and abundant that it becomes a place of shelter for the birds of the sky. I love that heaven has the potential to grow from something so tiny and small into something that becomes respite for the homeless and shelter from the storm. It seems to me that Jesus might be indicating that heaven is a current reality, living, growing, and spreading right here among us, and not some far off in the future destination. Can we cultivate heaven on earth? Seems like Jesus has thoughtfully shown us that yes we can. 

The next image is that of a woman using yeast to leaven dough. This is yet another earthly image of growing, spreading, widening, and rising. I don’t bake, however, I do watch The Great British Baking Show(best show ever!) and one thing I’ve learned about bread making is that it needs to be proofed. Once the loaves are kneaded and shaped, they are left for a particular amount of time to give the yeast a chance to transform (or ferment), and in that transformation, the dough rises. Don’t ask me why, it’s scientific! I do love this idea that the “proofing” of heaven happens when we become transformed. Again, it seems like it is a now thing rather than a someday thing. Once heaven is proofed and the dough is ready, it can feed and nourish. 

Both images suggest that heaven can grow, rise, spread, and widen, and both images also suggest that it takes time, patience, and careful nurturing. We must allow the seeds and the yeast to go through the process of becoming and this requires some thoughtful and intentional attention. We are all in the process of becoming aren’t we? We can cultivate heaven in our being rest for the weary, the lowly, the homeless, the unloved, and we can proof it in our feeding others with our transformed hearts and minds. It most definitely seems like an “on earth as it is in heaven” commissioning doesn’t it? The kingdom of God is at hand and we have the means to let it grow, rise, and spread. It is open to all and it is for all of us to imagine so that we can become it. The manifestation of heaven is in our providing for one another. Let’s let heaven rise among us today!! And it is well with my soul. 

Reading 1 EPH 5:21-33

Brothers and sisters:
Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord.
For the husband is head of his wife
just as Christ is head of the Church,
he himself the savior of the Body.
As the Church is subordinate to Christ,
so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives,
even as Christ loved the Church
and handed himself over for her to sanctify her,
cleansing her by the bath of water with the word,
that he might present to himself the Church in splendor,
without spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
that she might be holy and without blemish.
So also husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.
He who loves his wife loves himself.
For no one hates his own flesh
but rather nourishes and cherishes it,
even as Christ does the Church,
because we are members of his Body.

For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh.

This is a great mystery,
but I speak in reference to Christ and the Church.
In any case, each one of you should love his wife as himself,
and the wife should respect her husband.

Responsorial Psalm PS 128:1-2, 3, 4-5

R. (1a) Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive plants
around your table.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.

Alleluia SEE MT 11:25

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
You have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel LK 13:18-21

Jesus said, "What is the Kingdom of God like?
To what can I compare it?
It is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in the garden.
When it was fully grown, it became a large bush
and 'the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.'"

Again he said, "To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God?
It is like yeast that a woman took
and mixed in with three measures of wheat flour
until the whole batch of dough was leavened."