Newsletter — Eleventh Sunday of the Year—16th June 2024
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Our First Reading this week is taken from Ezekiel 17:22–24: I, the Lord, bring low the high tree and lift high the lowly tree.
Our Responsorial Psalm is from Psalm 92: They that are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.
This week’s Second Reading is from 2 Corinthians 5:6–10: The lives of all are to be revealed before the tribunal of Christ.
Our Gospel Reading this Sunday is Mark 4:26–34: The reign of God is like a mustard seed.
Today’s Gospel Reading consists of two parables about seeds. In the first, Jesus tells those gathered that this is “how it is with the kingdom of God.” A man scatters seed which over time sprouts and develops. Then when the grain is ripe, the man harvests his crop. The emphasis in the parable is on the seed, which seemingly has the power to grow on its own. In this it is like the Kingdom of God. The second parable focuses on the tiny mustard seed. Though not the smallest of all seeds, it is most likely the smallest that a first-century farmer in Jesus’ part of the world would have sown. Small as the mustard seed is, it develops into a tree. Though the mustard tree generally averages only nine to twelve feet in height, it has a wide expanse and provides a nesting place for birds. Just as the tree welcomes the birds, so is God’s kingdom welcoming and open to many.
These parables help us discern something about the kingdom of God and our own faith. In God we live and move and have our being, but God is a mystery and his kingdom, though present, has not yet come into its fullness. Today, the Kingdom of God is present in the Church. The mission of proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom given to the Apostles is now given to us. But just as seeds need time to come to fruition, so does the Kingdom of God. That is why in the Lord’s Prayer, we pray, “thy kingdom come.” We know that it will come in its fullness at the end of time. All we need is faith.
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