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6/16/2024 - 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time
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Secrets of the KingdomAs we journey on in the ordinary time of the Liturgical year, we have these readings that form a threshold for the spiritual pilgrimage. Jesus in His career as a teaching rabbi, seemed especially fond of using parables. In its form, the ancient Middle Eastern parable is a simile, that is, an explicit comparison of one item to another. Jesus' parables tell His listeners what God is like by comparing God's being or behavior to something familiar and known in the culture. The reason why parables have a ‘riddle like personality’ and are difficult to interpret is because they point out how things are similar but also different. In other words, God is similar to, yet different from, whatever is presented as the point of comparison. While there is an eagerness to arrive at the like answer, the parable also works to mold and fashion the listener’s mind and soul.
Many parables begin with the phrase “the kingdom of God is like. ... ” The English phrase is unfortunate because Jesus is not describing a place (kingdom) but rather a person (God). Many scholars prefer to translate: “The reign of God is like. ... ” In other words, a parable describes, or presents a scenario that illustrates what happens when God is totally in charge of life. What is God's reign like? If it depends only upon human effort, one risks failure. If humans choose to trust God instead of relying upon themselves, unimaginable success can result. The choice is up to the one who listens to the parable.
On the outset of the spiritual journey, we need to be aware that Life, like faith and love, resists most measurement. Unlike buildings and pavements that grow in our sight and perception as they are built, life growth is less perceptible. This is why, perhaps, a daily examination of our awareness can be so life-enhancing. Examination applies the lens of believing to the blur of daily particularities. It is to notice in faith. It is to pay attention lovingly, gratefully. Thousands of people flocked to Ars to confess to the saint of the confessional, St. John Vianney, shared a simple practice that the saint made them do. Spend a few minutes daily in reading the Holy Scripture, a few minutes of silent meditation and a few minutes in prayers of thanksgiving. Many people surprisingly found this quiet introspection as a grace filled time of God’s visitation.
It is difficult at times for Christians to maintain their hope in the coming of the Kingdom. The power of evil seems overwhelming, and the world presents itself as a formidable foe. The weapons of prayer and good works seem insignificant in a world of multi-corporations, market economy, intercontinental missiles, and extra-terrestrial adventures. Paul assures us, however, that “we continue to be confident,” and “we are full of confidence.” What is the source of this confidence? It comes from having a God “who is our hope and our strength, who brings low the high tree and lifts high the low tree.” Having a God who makes the withered tree bloom gives us the courage to continue in the face of overwhelming odds. We are never alone, as the might of God is with us all the time.
It also helps to know that the Kingdom is not like the world, which prides itself on its longest bridges and tallest buildings and biggest cities and most powerful armies and spectacular achievement in flight and speed. The image of the Kingdom is the mustard seed, “the smallest of all the earth’s seeds.” In the Kingdom, one does not have to be a king or a ruler to make a difference; the smallest person is great and powerful. In the Kingdom, you don't have to lead successful military campaigns to change the course of history; the smallest action has unlimited potential.
According to Pope Francis, why is there always hope when we use our mustard-seed-sized gifts? Who is in charge of the outcome? The Pope also observed that we need to be aware even in the Church of the “weeds of doubt” seen with the crisis of faith and various projects or initiatives that do not seem to work out. The help here, he said, is to always remember that the results of sowing do not depend on us; rather, “they depend on the action of God” and it is our concern simply “to sow, with love, dedication, patience.” The force of the seed is divine, he noted, while the other parable in today’s Gospel explains how the farmer sows the seed and is amazed at how it “grows spontaneously, day and night, when he least expects it,” showing “there is always hope,” even in the most infertile soil. Angelus for 1th Sun. of Ord Time – 2021. Fr Tom Kunnel, C.O.