Congregation for the Clergy on the Parables of the Kingdom: 11th Sunday In Ordinary Time

God can work marvels only with an authentic, real, little act of human faith.  No more than a 'small mustard seed' is asked of us!  To place our heart and mind in the service of the Kingdom, at the service of Jesus Christ, means to pronounce the faith.  We bear fruit not in the solitude of the sowing of the seed but in communion of the Church.  The ecclesial faith, believing with the Church, is the only way to bear fruit so that the Kingdom can grow according to the Father's project and not suffocated by only human plans.

P>VATICAN CITY (Catholic Online) - Three parables dominate this Sunday's liturgy.  The first is contained in the Old Testament reading and the other two are in the Gospel text.  Each parable brings the same message to help us to reflect on the reality of the Kingdom of God and on the way that God acts.

In the three parables the logic of the antithesis between the "before" and the "after" emerges.  In the parable of the cedar, we find the shoot that will be taken and replanted to become the majestic tree.  In the parable of the seed, our attention is drawn to the seed that is sown into the earth and grows in an almost mysterious way.  In the parable of the mustard seed, instead, we find the journey of the smallest seed that that becomes the largest of all the plants, and so highlights the lack of proportion between the "before" and "after".

In this almost paradoxical exchange, some characteristics of the Kingdom of God become clear.

In first place, the Kingdom of God is a reality that starts in an almost imperceptible, silent and apparently fragile way that grows progressively in way that is not dependent on the will of man.  In second place, the kingdom which starts in that small way is destined to produce a grand finale that is very fruitful.  In the end, the logic of growth appears: the Kingdom of God is not imposed with force or unexpectedly but enters into our history mixed together with the history of humanity and its development.  This reminds us that the Kingdom is firstly a gift of God and His work.  The Kingdom is above all a person, the person of Jesus Christ, and the mystery of the Word obeys exactly the cited characteristics of the Kingdom.

The Kingdom starts by the Father's work in an obscure and hidden way and it is destined for a glorious finish.  It maintains the promise that from a small start it will reach its glorious conclusion.

Even in our modern epoch, which is the time of the Trinitarian mission of the Holy Spirit and the Church, this logic remains immutable.  The Kingdom lives and grows in a humanly imperceptible way. It is often neglected and opposed by the forces of this world, but it  inexorably waits in the hearts and minds of those that are of Christ and who will triumph with Him.

Through the triumph of the Kingdom in the hearts, also comes the triumph of the Kingdom in history in which is not shown in its fullness and strength until the last day.  The profound knowledge of the works of God in our hearts and in history generates great consolation in our own insignificance, the insufficiency of our own strength which placed with God can produce unimaginable fruit. 

The Kingdom is first of all a work of the Father, but to fulfil it He asks the contribution of everyone.  We are called to be humble workers in the Lord's vineyard, workers of the Kingdom with the knowledge that starting from our little, yet indispensable seed, God can generate superabundant fruit which is a tangible proof of the beauty and strength of the Kingdom.

God can work marvels only with an authentic, real, little act of human faith.  No more than a 'small mustard seed' is asked of us!  To place our heart and mind in the service of the Kingdom, at the service of Jesus Christ, means to pronounce the faith.  We bear fruit not in the solitude of the sowing of the seed but in communion of the Church.  The ecclesial faith, believing with the Church, is the only way to bear fruit so that the Kingdom can grow according to the Father's project and not suffocated by only human plans.

May the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is the most fruitful seed of the Kingdom of God, sustain us in welcoming God's action in our history and make us participants of the Kingdom in possession of the fullness of the faith!

Citations of
Ez 17,22-24:  www.clerus.org/bibliaclerusonline/en/9bcaeyq.htm  
2Co 5,6-10:  www.clerus.org/bibliaclerusonline/en/9ajjphe.htm   
Mc 4,26-34:  www.clerus.org/bibliaclerusonline/en/9bihczd.htm 

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