Original Manuscript:
Bede is known as a great saint in the church, particular to those of us who trace our line back to the Church of England. He was a veracious writer of many subjects, though he’s known most for his Ecclesiastical History of England. He was so highly revered, he became known as the Venerable Bede.
Yet his beginnings were more humble. He grew up in a monastery. From there, he was ordained as a young man, as a deacon at 19 and as a priest at age 30. The root of his name, even, is said to be “common”.
In our Gopsel lesson today, we learn that the Kingdom of God grows out of something tiny like a mustard seed or yeast and grows in to something big. That is certainly the case with young Bede’s life. He continued to serve God through his writing, even dying as he translated the Gospel according to John on the eve of the Ascension which we celebrate tomorrow. He is still considered venerable today.
We may not think we are much, yet like Bede we can be a mustard seed producing a great tree to serve our Lord well on this world if only we will follow God and allow the Lord to provide us with the right nutrients to do so.