the mustard seed

last sunday's gospel was about the parable of the mustard seed. as the mass was going on, the memory of this book by Fr. Joseph A. Galdon, S.J. flashed before me. i love this book so much. it never failed to help me whenever i am in any sort of problem or life's challenges as i would fondly call them.

my good friend and former office mate, Ome Bailey introduced me "The Mustard Seed" 14 years ago. Ome is one friend of mine who is very close to God. he takes extra effort to share anything about God to us. i still have the picture of "the laughing Christ" that he gave and copies of Kerygma magazines that he generously shared with me. he lend me the mustard seed book and after reading it, i did not stop until i have a copy of my own. the time for me to chew on the book was limited because, queencie, and jeng are already in the waiting list.

we can surely relate to each and every story narrated in the book. the author has a unique way of integrating literary classics like the sonnets of shakespeare, works of T. S. Eliot, with christian jesuit teachings, the bible and contemporary stories that could really touch our lives. a daily reflection guide and a true page turner in one.

here are two of my favorite reflections in the book,

1. love in the open hand..."look what i have and all these are for you" just like what the image of our blessed mother, her hands stretched and wide open for each of us, no hesitations, no limitations. "Go for broke! Take a chance on love. Put it all there in the open hand."

2. the green eyed monster..."jealousy - the fear of losing something or someone through the rivalry of another." this reflection taught me how to handle a relationship and be able to secure myself and not be defeated by the green eyed monster.

there are a lot of reflections in the book that struck me and guided me for the past 14 years.
thank you Ome for introducing this book. thank you Fr. Joseph for this great work.