Word to the Wise
Friday, October 17, 2014 - Friday in the 28th Week in Ordinary Time
[Eph 1:11-14 and Luke 12:1-7]Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins? Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God. Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows. [Luke]
Two wonderful images in the Gospel of Luke speak to us of God's providence! The first comes from the marketplace, where Jesus would have seen cages of birds being sold! The second comes from the human head with its hair! If God counts hairs, the job has become easier over the years in my case!
The sparrows have been a favorite image of mine over the years as well. I was once on a retreat and was sitting at the door of my "hermitage" and noticed a bunch of sparrows eating and pecking and occasionally squabbling. The image of the gospel came to me and suggested that I consider those little birdies and realize that if God loves them, surely God can love me!
A sparrow is also the hero of a story I tell to congregations at a parish mission when speaking of what one can do in the face of overwhelming needs. The sparrow I know heard from another creature that the sky was going to fall, so she lay down on her back and put her little feet up and strained with all her might. A passerby stopped and asked, "What are you doing, sparrow?" The sparrow answered, "I heard the sky is going to fall and I am holding it up with my feet!" The passerby responded, "Sparrow, do you think your thin little legs and feet can hold up the sky?" The Sparrow answered, "One does what one can!"
God loves the sparrows and us. With that kind of help, we can hold up the sky! AMEN
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