But how can I eat a piece of apple pie unless a few things have to happen.
Someone has to put an apple seed into the ground so it can grow into a tree.
Then, one has to wait until the apples begin to sprout and blossom on the tree; then the fruit has to be picked.
After that, one must wash it and peel it and cut it and mix in sugar and spices, then put it into a pie crust then heat the oven …
Wow, what a process!
And then, and only then, can the pie go into the mouth and … yum!
Similarly, for a person A. to receive the word of God into their heart, someone who already has it in their heart, B. has to preach it with their mouth, so that it can be heard by the person through their ears and it can then be believed by the person.
Both are processes.
Each part of the process has importance and affects both the consumption of the pie and the receiving and believing in the word.
Paul notes the important parts of receiving the word of God.
How important the mouth is for preaching, the ears for hearing, the heart and mind for believing and cherishing the word — and that process gets repeated and repeated and repeated from one person to the next.
But who would have thought that Paul would quote a written passage that praises not the mouth, nor the ears, not even the heart but rather the feet — “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news!”
The feet!
And yet, how many feet trod how many miles of dirt to carry this person or that one to these people to preach and share deeply believed truths about the Christ and the Gospel?
A process!
Jesus himself participated in the process calling Simon (Peter) and his brother Andrew, and calling James (son of Zebedee) and his brother John.
The call was persuasive as they left their boats and their laboring fathers to follow Jesus — to answer his call — as their beautiful feet went with the Lord so that at a later time those beautiful feet would carry these men to go and do likewise, as they carried that word and spoke it with their mouths and others heard it with their ears and their hearts.
Is it any different for us? Have we not been a part of the process and won’t we continue to be?
Whether it be apple pie or the Gospel of Christ, it certainly involves the human as well as the divine and a whole bunch of Holy Spirit.
And best of all, that voice of Jesus never stops calling: “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men and women and anyone and everyone who desires to enter into the process so that my word can enter into their heart and produce much fruit and all can discover such love.”
The feet, indeed!
Father Perry D. Leiker is the 13th pastor of St. Bernard Catholic Church. Reach him at (323) 255-6142. Email Father Perry at pleiker@stbernard-church.com. Follow Father Perry on Twitter: @MrDeano76.
