Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

June 16, 2024

Cycle B

• First Reading: Ezekiel 17:22–24. I, the Lord, bring low the high tree and lift high the lowly tree.

• Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 92:2–3,13–16.

• Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:6–10. We are always courageous, although we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.

• Gospel Reading: Mark 4:26–34.

The reign of God is like a mustard seed

What is doing the right thing? This question has been pondered by many societies throughout history. When I was attending high school, I recall how our school organized a week of values every cycle. Later, I proceeded to university and studied the works of many thinkers on this topic. I believe that our society always puts forth a set of right conduct for people to follow, thereby distinguishing between right and wrong, even for those who were raised in educated families. Despite our awareness of what is right, sometimes doing the right thing can be quite challenging. That is, we may discern the best course of action with others, and while our hearts may be inclined to act, the motivation within us may sometimes falter.

Today, the world of the lord is inviting us to achieve the correct feeling and the correct though for doing the right thing. Building a world where there is peace, love, harmony requires living by many values and rules, but above all, it requires motivation and encouragement, and we can accomplish this when we embark on the kingdom of God. Today, the Gospel presents two parables about that; these parables teach a “big idea” using various narrative elements or details common in Jesus’ time; this big idea implies that there is something going beyond in the teaching-it is symbolic language.

The Kingdom of God is, as Jesus say: “[…] it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and raise night and day and through it all the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how.” God is the one who scatters the seed on our land, meaning in our heart, and this seed of love grows when we care of it. Embracing this love of God implies taking care of the seed to increase this love “of its own accord the land yields fruit, […] And when the grain is ripe, he wilds the sickle at once, for the harvest you have come.” What was initially a seed has now become fruits-it is love and compassion towards others, and when our love is authentic and unconditional, our brothers and sisters are drawn to us to partake in the “harvest”, meaning to receive love through our good actions.

When God find us and puts the seed in our heart, it suggests that there was an experience of God, that is precisely our support and encouragement for doing the right thing. In the second parable, Jesus compares the mustard seed that becomes in a largest plant, symbolizing a big tree supported by God “and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.” Once Jesus is our support, we can be a support for the others like a shade for the birds, we become a source of grace for our society, our family, our peers in the school, or at work.

The kingdom of God is this reality in the earth brought by God; the Church is called to be sacrament of salvation because Christians strive to live the Kingdom of God, meaning heaven on earth. Paul explains to us how this experience of the Kingdom of God is an anticipated reality lived through faith “We are always courageous, although we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight.”

Brothers and sisters, in this confusing world we are called to discern the best way, but we can achieve that by walking in the values of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is the right thing, but it is not a strict rule or low; instead, it is lifestyle, a way of faith like small piece of heaven in the world, and the Church is striving to build this Reign among us. Let us be like the cedar magnificently mentioned in the first reading, majestic and leafy, in order to be a resting place for others, where “Birds of every kind shall dwell beneath it, every winged thing in the shade of its boughs.”