Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
June 14, 2015
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower.
All who come to him will live forever.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Mk 4:26-34
Homily— June 13 & 14
I read a reflection that stated “the heart of God aches to ‘tear off a tender shoot’ from a mighty cedar and ‘plant it on a high and lofty mountain’ so that ‘birds of every kind shall dwell beneath it.’ That is, the Lord wants to reveal his glory by taking up our nothingness & our insignificance & turning it into something ‘majestic’ by the pure force of his love. For this to happen in us, Jesus asks that we pay the same attention to the little things of life—like mustard seeds—that he does. Christ speaks in parables because ‘reality itself is a parable.’ Pope Benedict XVI states “The parable does not approach our experience of the world from without: on the contrary, it is the parable that gives this experience its proper depth & reveals what is hidden in things themselves.”
What is hidden in the seed scattered on the ground? What is hidden in the mustard seed? What is hidden from our sight?
My niece & her husband traveled to Canada to celebrate their first anniversary in May. They went to a restaurant called O.Noir and it is located underground. The wait staff was either blind or visually impaired. You either order your food and/or pick a surprise dish before you go into the dining area. The hostess introduces you to your waiter & you form a train with your hands on the shoulders of the waiter or the person in front of you as you walk into the room which is completely dark. Once they got in they could hear people talking at other tables so they knew others were in there but they were still far enough away that they could have their own conversations. Every table asked the question of someone at their table “Are your eyes open or closed?” It really did not make a difference since they could not see either way. They could never have expected it to be as dark as it was. They had to use their hands to find out what was on the table. They both ordered steak that was cut into strips as they did not have a knife with which to have an accident. They were not aware of the waiter bringing food until he was next to them and said something. Not being able to see the food required a lot of trust. You had to trust that the food was prepared correctly & that there was not a hair on it. They both chose a surprise dish that heightened their sense of smell & taste as they found out what it was. It was a mystery having no idea what they would be biting into. At the end they were led out again and slowly did their eyes adjust to the light.
Isn’t life kind of like this restaurant in that there is still a lot to be revealed to us? We have to trust what God has prepared for us. What is heaven like? What kind of judge will Jesus be?