Cycle B - Year II:

17 June 2018: Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical Color: Green)

Readings:

First Reading: Ezekiel 17:22-24

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:6-10

Gospel:Please Read Mark 4:26-34

Let us plant God's seed in the world!

The saying that "we reap what we sow" maybe popular and trite, but it also speaks profound truth about the wonders of Mother Nature. Do you know what this saying means?

This Sunday's liturgy speaks of something in Mother Nature that perhaps we just take for granted, planting a seed. What does it tell us about God's kingdom?

It is always beautiful to see our Lord Jesus Christ using practical situations and events in life to teach new elements and images which could help people to see and experience the process of God's kingdom.

Now Jesus preaches about the kingdom of God in parables to help His new followers better understand the kingdom of God. These parables bridge the gap, so to speak, between earthly realities and the heavenly ones.

In the Gospel from St. Mark, Jesus narrates two parables or brief stories which take place every day in the life of all of us: the story of "the seed that grows by itself", and the story of "the small mustard see that grows into the biggest shrub."

Let us reflect on the first story of the seed that grows alone. The farmer knows the process: he plants the seed, then comes the green sprout, life, spike, and grain. The farmer waits for the right time to reap what he sows. But he doesn't know how the soil, the rain, the sun and the seed itself have their force or strength to make the plant grow from nothing until it bears fruits.

The same is true for the story of the mustard seed. When we plant a tiny mustard seed in good soil, it grows literally to a big tree, through the wonders of Mother Nature, that bears abundant fruits and serves as a leafy home to birds. But we don't know exactly how Nature works to transforms the tiny seed into the big tree.

Now our Lord tells us that God's kingdom works in similar fashion. It is a process. There are stages and moments of growth. It takes place in time. It produces fruit at just the right moment, but nobody knows how to explain its mysterious force -- nobody, not even the landlord, only God knows! Thus, God's kingdom starts from the smallest beginning in our hearts when we are receptive of God's word, It works unseen and causes transformation from within us.

We must understand that just as the seed has no power to change itself until it is planted in the ground, so, too, we cannot really change our lives to be what God desires of us until God Himself gives us the power of His Holy Spirit. So we must allow the Holy Spirit to work in us, because God never forces Himself on anyone. It must be our personal choice to let Him transform us to be God-like. Are we ready to let God change us by His grace and power?

In sum, Jesus is telling us in this Sunday's Gospel that this is how God's kingdom work in our lives and in the world: its beginning is rather small, but given time and our cooperation, it grows into something big that can transform us to become missionaries of joy for God's kingdom here on earth. Because when we follow and yield to our Lord Jesus Christ, our lives are transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.

Do we believe in the transforming power of the Holy Spirit? Let us scatter God's seed... and waits patiently for the right time.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!