Friday, January 31, 2003
3rd Week in Ordinary Time

1st Reading: Heb 10:32-39
Gospel: Mk 4:26-34

Jesus said, "In the kingdom of God it is like this. A man scatters seed upon the soil. Whether he is asleep or awake, be it day or night, the seed sprouts and grows, he knows not how. The soil produces of itself; first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when it is ripe for harvesting they take the sickle for the cutting: the time for harvest has come."

Jesus also said, "What is the kingdom of God like? To what shall we compare it? It is like a mustard seed which, when sown, is the smallest of all the seeds scattered upon the soil. But once sown, it grows up and becomes the largest of the plants in the garden and even grows branches so big that the birds of the air can take shelter in its shade."

Jesus used many such stories or parables, to proclaim the word to them in a way they would be able to understand. He would not teach them without parables; but privately to his disciples he explained everything.

Gospel Commentary

Both of Jesus' parables today warn the disciples against judging the Kingdom's reality purely by external appearances. Like the farmer who rises and goes to sleep again while the seed grows slowly in a hidden way, sometimes we may feel that nothing is happening, and that God is absent from our history. At other times, like the man who has planted the mustard seed, the tiniest of seeds, we may discern signs of the Kingdom, but they may seem so small and insignificant when compared to the forces of evil and destruction. It is at such times that Jesus bids us to remember that the seed of the Kingdom grows in a silent, slow and hidden way-but that it does grow; and that the seed of God's Kingdom, though small, will yet grow into the greatest of trees. We are invited to walk, not by sight, but by faith-as the saints, and as Jesus himself, did.

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