June 16 2024. Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time
GOSPEL Mark 4:26-34
Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio
Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading . . .
GOSPEL Mark 4:26-34
Jesus said to the crowds: ‘This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man throws seed on the land. Night and day, while he sleeps, when he is awake, the seed is sprouting and growing; how, he does not know. Of its own accord the land produces first the shoot, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the crop is ready, he loses no time: he starts to reap because the harvest has come.’
He also said, ‘What can we say the kingdom of God is like? What parable can we find for it? It is like a mustard seed which at the time of its sowing in the soil is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet once it is sown it grows into the biggest shrub of them all and puts out big branches so that the birds of the air can shelter in its shade.’
Using many parables like these, he spoke the word to them, so far as they were capable of understanding it. He would not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything to his disciples when they were alone.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ
SHORTER HOMILY
These short parables from Mark’s Gospel are short and simple but very significant. The parable of the sower reveals that the spiritual life is analogous to biological life. The characteristics of biological life are that it is something gradual, something dynamic, which begins from an event of fertilisation. This event is not a mental thing; it is not something that can be achieved simply by thinking or with effort. There is always an element of gift in the generation of new life. In an analogous manner, the Lord gifts us with his word which generates new life in us. This new life cannot be generated by our intelligence or our effort. Our task is to welcome this life. As the parable makes clear, the power of the seed is not determined by the man who sows. Whether he is asleep or awake, the seed has a power all of its own. In a similar way, the word of the Lord is invested with the power of God. Each Christian is unique, generated by the Father and unrepeatable, just as every human life has a unique and unrepeatable genetic blueprint. The word of God, sown in us, gives rise to our missionary activity. Just as seed sown in the ground results in fruit, so too we have been created to bear fruit. There is a synthesis between the word of God sown in us and our unique characteristics. Now consider the second parable. It might seem like a small thing, this welcoming of the seed of the word, but it can provide shelter for many. The seed of the word is sown in the ground of each unique Christian, but it is an organic thing because there is one Spirit creating a united multiform reality. This fruitful Christian life is attractive to other people because there is a peacefulness and mercifulness about that person. People can find in him the shelter of the glory of God. May the Lord bring this word to fruition in the Church, following this dynamic of beginning small and insignificant, but become greater. This is the way that life works. We can’t ask for fruit when it is not time for fruit. The seed must first be present, and it will achieve its goal if it is welcomed and nourished.
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