Brief synopsis of the readings: Isaiah draws a connection between climate and God’s word. Just as rain and snow fall to earth and do not return before giving growth to seeds that become food, so too does God’s word come down and returns only after “achieving the end for which I sent it.” In the long form of today’s Gospel Jesus talks about one who spreads seeds. Some seeds are eaten by birds, some fall on rocks, some fall among thorns. But some fall on rich soil and produce crops. When asked why he speaks in parables Jesus told them that he does this so those who listen will understand. He then explained the parable that the seed is God’s word and the hearers are the soil.

All over the Catholic world this Sunday we will hear about soil composition with the clear message that we are called to be rich soil where seeds can grow. I have to confess when I first saw the musical Godspell I found this part the most amusing. There is validity to that allegory but let’s face it: it’s become a little cliche. Let’s look at these readings with new eyes and see if we can find other nuggets of truth here.

On first reading these readings in preparation for this homily I immediately thought of Biosphere 2. A 3.14 acre enclosed plant was built in Arizona and 8 people spent two years there. It was intended to run independently of the “outside world.” Humans would convert oxygen to carbon dioxide while plants would convert carbon dioxide back to oxygen, the water in the biosphere would provide all the water they needed, etc. It finished with mixed results but I was aware of the hubris of believing we could create our own self sufficient world.

But that’s what God has created for us, though we may not think about it. We live on a planet that provides everything that we need not only to sustain life but also everything we need to live in awe of God’s love. We need the sun for light and warmth but (as far as I can tell) we need nothing else. The sun and what we find here provides all our needs. By the way if you’re an astrophysicist and are laughing hysterically now at my lack of science knowledge, please be gentle.

I write this because our world not only provides all that we need it also renews itself. When we think of the seeds in the Gospel that don’t become crops we think they died and were wasted but they weren’t. Some passed through the birds and fell somewhere else, some were blown off the rocks into good soil, and some broke down in the soil and became nutrients for other seeds.

The universe has fascinated us for as long as we’ve been able to look at the sky; in ancient times when we looked up we called it “the heavens.” And it causes us to wonder, if the sun and the earth provide all that we need for life, why everything else? We look, we explore, we travel because we seek what we do not know. Imagination is not just God given, it lives in God. Listen to astronomers or astrophysicists and you will soon hear the word “elegant” when they describe the universe.

Perhaps there is other life out there for us to discover and we have built entire communities around Star Trek and Star Wars. But even if there isn’t, there is much for us to dream about and our dreams can’t even approach God’s dreams.

Nearly everyone who knows me knows I have little patience for Christians who insist they know God’s will and how God feels about things that baffle us. Like why some of our brothers and sisters are gay. Or transgender. Or nonbinary. These issues continue to divide us and nearly all sides claim to act on God’s will.

I always wonder if a narrow view is nothing more than letting our own lack of imagination determine that God is as limited as we are. It’s scary to wonder why people are they way they are (or why we are the way we are) but I don’t think it does ourselves, the universe, or God any good to decide that they are wrong. Or mistakes. Or sinners. Instead can we embrace now and put off understanding for another day? Or to quote St. Augustine: “Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe, that you understand.”

Please understand this does not deny the existence of evil and sin and some actions are just plain wrong. But people are not wrong. People cannot make themselves in our image and shouldn’t be told that they have to. If we revere the elegance of the heavens and marvel at supernovas and black holes, if we find that our understanding continues to be outpaced by our discoveries, why do we limit ourselves in what be accept in each other?

I don’t know why some children are born with Down Syndrome, with an extra copy of the 21st chromosome. Previous generations called them defective and handicapped. But we’ve come to a better understanding in the last fifty years and we’ve learned to appreciate them as complete people. We’ve learned that they have much to teach us about unconditional love and joy. When we stopped asking why, when we stopped deciding that they were mistakes, they gained and we gained.

If we look at others as sinners for being who they are, or if we think they are defective or disordered we are letting them down but we also let ourselves down. We miss what is elegant of them by deciding only one part of them matters. And we let God down. We don’t know why God does what he does (and later in Isaiah God tells us that our ways are not his ways) but if I ever need to account for my life before God I’d rather explain that I sought to love in the hopes that I would understand.

In the meantime let’s take seriously what God tells us through Isaiah. Not only does God pay attention to every raindrop and snowflake, he continues to unveil more and more the elegance if his creation.