11th Sunday of Ordinary Time, year ’B’
“He said ’The Kingdom of God is like this : A man scatters seed on the land. Night and day, while he sleeps,when he is awake , tehs eed is sprouting and growing ; how, he does not know. Of its own accord the land produces first the shoot, the the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the crop is ready, at once he starts to reap because the harvest has come.”
Jesus sowed the Word and he sees the Kingdom grow by itself; the Word that is freed up brings to life other people who are modeled by it and who themselves spread the Good News. This is such a marvellous aspect of life, to know that such an energy is ordered in this way. Jesus speaks of the growth of the Kingdom of God in each of our hearts and in our lives. He takes the image of the growth of a seed sown in the earth and which nourishes the earth. God’s Infinite Love makes its way in us progressively without us realising it. This is God’s ’work’ in us, giving us his Peace. The image of the growth of wheat takes into account the reality of life that is rising up, that is manifesting itself, going beyone what we can perceive.We can’t dominate this reality but we can be in relationship with it and it can help us to understand ’the Kingdom of God.’ If I sow a seed in the garden, I must first of all work the soil, prepare it. Thus we welcome the Kingdom in listening to God’s Word. Jesus announces the gift of a whole new Love,it is the gift of his Love that is going to change our life. Our conversion will be to live from this Light so as to become light for the world.
“Jesus also said ’What can we say that the kingdom is like? What parable can we find for it? It is like a mustard seed which at the time of its sowing, 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.”
The image of the mustard seed giving refuge to the ’birds of the air’ has no other point than to show uw us how we can live graciously , in peace and unity.It is the smallest of the vegetable plants! This image brings light the preparation of the Kingdom of God within us, this small seed will become a big tree where the birds of the air can come and uild their nests. It is the Infinte
Love of God freely given. The growth of the seed announces a finality, an end, the seed has no meaning in itself. The finality of love shared on a universal level, which requires from everybody Love for the Father,reconciliation, recognition,a passage on another level. This Love is freely given, freely recieved. Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus would say : ’It is the Infinite Confidence in the God of Love and total surrender to his Will that makes this love come so that it grows with time.“”Using many parables like these, he spoke the word to them, so far asthey were capable of understanding it. He would not speal to them except in parables, but he explained everything to his disciples when they were by themselves."
The Word began its work,, we know what the ending will be like, but there is the time of passage. I order to bring it about,Jesus knew the way right from the beginning, he has it understood to his companions, ’to the extent they were able to uderstand.’ He offers us to take his path, , we too. Our desire for peace, unity and life has to accept to carry within it a weakness. We have to lose our life so that it can rise again. This Infinite Love is the ’divine Seed’ that germinated in the Virgin Mary’s womb. It gave a marvellous fruit! It will be grinded at the wine-press of the cross and buried in the tomb. In being ressucitated, Jesus has become this big tree in which every single human being on earth can find courage again. Jesus saves us, we come into this Gospel with an infinite confidence and total surrender. We welcome the gift of God who comes , by understanding that the all-powerful Christ has been made into a tiny child in Bethlehem. Jesus, the king of life comes down into the tomb to give life to us. It is this new life that we receive freely.