The following homily was given to Boy Scouts gathered for Mass in the Chapel of the Twelve Apostles on the H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation in Osceola, Missouri.
We don’t like to wait. We want to see results of our efforts right now. In today’s gospel, Jesus reminds us that the kingdom of God is not like this. Rather, it’s like a farmer planting a tiny seed that grows slowly, “first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.” Only when it is ripe does the farmer then proceed to the harvest. Most of the farmer’s job is to wait patiently while the seed grows.
This parable is obviously about patience, but it’s also about commitment. Imagine what would happen if the farmer gave up on the grain before it was ripe, thinking that it just looked like grass or even weeds. It takes a commitment to stick with it, from the beginning as a tiny see all the way through to harvest. There is great value in remaining committed to something over a long time. Scouting is something that is worthy of such a commitment.
It makes me sad today to see that so many boys are missing out on the scouting experience because of our society’s ever increasing obsession with sports. Don’t get me wrong; I love sports. I played all kinds of sports growing up. But here’s the thing… I don’t play any of those sports anymore. From today’s vantage point, they were mere temporary distractions in my life. But I’m still scouting. After almost 32 years, I’m still a scout. Scouting has proven to be worthy of all the time I have committed to it over the years.
There’s a certain magic to the H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation and the Tribe of Mic-O-Say. You start out as a first year camper, like that tiny seed in the gospel. But then you come back. You come back another summer and another. The growth is slow and perhaps imperceptible from one year to the next. But then one day you’re a brave and then a warrior, and before you know it you’ve got a bunch of coups around your neck and you’re back with your own son, or perhaps like me, back celebrating Mass at the same altar that you once looked upon for the first time so many years ago as just a first year camper.
This kind of growth produces real fruit, fruit worthy of a lifetime commitment. But notice that it only happens if you stick with it. The real joy in scouting, and in life, comes not from temporary distractions, but from real giving of yourself. As we say down here in Osceola, “Come back. Come back and sink your roots deep.” This is good advice not just for scouts hopeful of hearing their name on call night, but for all of us who would hope to hear the greatest call ever, the call from God to do something great.