Let’s get of the beaten path this week and take a stroll through the Psalm that was sung between the first and second readings.

“Lord, I love your commands,” is the line you’ll hear repeated. And it’s a pretty powerful on when you spend more than ten seconds pondering it.

Put yourself in the military (or for some of you—back in the military—thank you for your service). “I love your commands!” If you said this and meant it in the heat of battle, it would be a big step beyond merely following your training and obeying the chain of command. You would have to have found your commanding officer to be full of wisdom.

This week, our Gospel contains quite a few more parables. We get Jesus’ comparing the kingdom of God to a tny mustard seed that turns into a big “tree” - which, truth be told - looks like an unruly shrub that grows to ten feet before spreading horizontally.

Have you ever asked yourself why? Dr. Brant Pitre proposes it might be because it only takes a little faith to be welcomed into one’s heart and nurtured for it to take root. Then, in often messy ways, it grows and spreads all over the place.

And I propose one of the key words there is “messy.”

You’ve heard this Sunday’s Gospel before, but have you paid attention?

In the parable, we meet the worst gardener in the whole wide world. He’s throwing seeds on the path. He’s tossing seeds into the rocks. He’s sprinkling seeds into the thornbushes. And it is almost as if he gets lucky and hits a patch of fertile super-soil.

Then, he says the most curious thing of all: “Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

I’ve been feeling a bit tired lately.

No. That isn’t entrely true. I’ve been what my rural family used to call “bone tired.”

I think it’s a combinaton of a few factors. I haven’t had a true vacation in eighteen months or so because all my vacation days were used up by back surgeries and subsequent recoveries. Layer over the top of it that my body is still dealing with the after-effects of the past year (including the rehab process.) Finally, add to all that my eagerness to make up for lost time contributing to family chores and projects.

Wake up. Get ready for work. Go to work (and if you are retired, you’ve replaced work with hobbies and commitments). Go home. Eat dinner. Get ready for bed. Sleep. Do it again four more times. Do chores and go to Mass on the weekend. Repeat 52 times a year.

In this world full of repetition, it is easy to feel as though we were made for more. And guess what? This weekend’s Gospel reading reminds us that we were!

Jesus is speaking to his closest followers—which is what we are called to be. He begins with priorities. He must come first. And this sounds like common sense until we remember this includes our families.