Gospel Reading: Mk 4:26-34
Jesus said to the crowds: “This is how it is with the Kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.” He said, “To what shall we compare the Kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.” With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it. Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.
THE SEED WOULD SPROUT AND GROW
Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a seed sprouting and growing by itself and to a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds. The Kingdom of God is so great a reality that one image is not enough to describe it. The Kingdom is a gift; God’s hidden and gradual action makes the Kingdom grow. God’s initiative and power make it flourish in our midst. The Kingdom starts small, like a mustard seed, but in the end it becomes so great that its branches provide homes for the birds of the sky. The Kingdom of God welcomes all peoples of good will. This gives us the hope that even in an environment of secularism and relativism, the Kingdom of God will triumph. Discouragement and hopelessness should have no place in the hearts of Christians because Jesus assures us that the Kingdom will prevail.
“Do not worry… seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides” (Mt 6:31, 33).
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SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord,” ST PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.