Reflection for the 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B, 16 June 2024
Readings: Ezekiel 17:22 – 24, Psalm 91: 2 – 3; 13 – 16, 2 Corinthians 5:6 – 10 and Mark 4: 26 – 34
All keen gardeners out there will agree that it is a pastime which requires vision, effort, patience, and perseverance. It is true that new products to enhance plant growth and quality are continuously appearing on the market, making things a bit easier. We agree that everyone needs a little extra help every now and then. This however does not alter the fact that gardening needs vision, effort, patience and perseverance.
Three of our four readings for this Sunday use the analogy of a tree to bring home the message.
Ezekiel, the prophet who looked forward to the post–exile restoration of the Kingdom of David, expressed his hopes in the allegory of the cedar tree. This tree will be planted by God himself and will become a shelter for all the birds. All the nations of the earth will find a home in it.
Whereas Ezekiel’s tree stands for the restored kingdom, the cedar of Lebanon in the Psalm stands for the faithful Israelite who flourishes in his old age because of his fidelity to God.
The two seed parables of today’s gospel reading conclude Mark’s parable chapter which is a sort of summary of the content of the teaching of Jesus.
Each of the two gives an image of the Kingdom of God. This Kingdom is never directly defined but only described by Jesus through familiar scenes of the day.
The first parable contrasts the daily labour of the farmer with the silent, invisible growth of the seed. There can be various meanings: Firstly, that the reality of the coming of the Kingdom is unstoppable and not entirely dependent on human effort. Also that the achievements of the work of God are not always obvious but will continue and come to fruition. It is about the period of growth. Patience is required. I find the words of St. Paul in our second reading very handy at this juncture: “ We live by faith and not by sight”.
The second parable, that of the mustard seed, stresses not the period of growth but the end result itself: the smallest seed has become the biggest tree of all.
Ezekiel’s allegory is freshly applied and implies that the size, the number and apparent helplessness of the followers of Christ should not deceive opponents. Nor should it dishearten believers when faced with challenges of small numbers and lack of resources.
One of the lessons of the Synod on Synodality is that believers, as citizens and proclaimers of the kingdom of God, should not be merely results driven. We should rather be process driven, and pay attention to all the small steps and the details of our journey together. This can be time consuming and exacting – truly the long road, the road that is “less travelled”.
In a world that is increasingly becoming fixated with saving time and instant results, with minimum input and maximum results, reducing the human being to a utility, this way seems alien and to many even hostile. It is in actual fact part of God’s gardening.
In all our activities, the Lord is inviting us to have patience. Our task is only to plant the seeds. The results are God’s business. This way also requires that we proceed systematically, with careful planning, and gradually. Whether we start or revive a small Christian community, engage in ecumenism or inter- religious dialogue or in educating people regarding issues of poverty and inequality, domestic abuse or child – trafficking, we need to be patient about the results because God is the one who make our work bear fruit.