From that tiny beginning grows a large shrub, strong enough that the birds of the air come and make their nests in its branches.

What are you buying with your life? The Gospel invites us to make the wisest investment possible. To invest our lives in the one treasure that can never be stolen. The one pearl that never loses its value. The one kingdom that never passes away.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. James the Apostle, one of the first disciples Jesus called from the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus explains that the seed is the Word of God. The seed itself is always good. The question is never about the quality of the seed; the question is about the condition of the soil.

When a person sincerely seeks God, even with questions, doubts, or weaknesses, the Lord gradually reveals more. Faith grows through openness.

The Church has long honored her as the “Apostle to the Apostles,” because the risen Christ entrusted to her the first proclamation: “I have seen the Lord.”

Jesus is truly here.

Everything else flows from that.

Do we spend our lives asking God for more signs while overlooking the signs He has already given us?

Jesus is telling us something profound about God. God is patient. Far more patient than we are. We often want immediate justice. We want God to fix every problem now. We want evil removed now. We want difficult people changed now. We want our own weaknesses gone now.

A bruised reed is weak, bent, and easily broken. A smoldering wick barely gives any light and seems ready to go out. Most people would throw both away.