Growth ~ Msgr. Daniel Hoye

God causes the growth.  That’s the point that Paul wants to make in that first reading.  Apparently there were factions who were attributing the success of Christianity to Paul, or to Apollos, and maybe others.  Paul makes the point that he planted, Apollos watered, but God causes the growth.  We might call that the grace of God.

One author talks about this notion of growth by using different images from nature.  He says that sometimes our growth is like a snake that is shedding its skin, leaving the old behind—the old habits, the old practices behind.  Other times growth might be likened to a caterpillar that is transformed into a butterfly—a more dramatic growth.  But for most of us, the author says, growth is more like a big tree—that you don’t notice the growth, but it’s there.  We just need to step back occasionally and to see how God’s grace has been working with us and in us.

God causes the growth.