Deacon Greg's Homily 6-14-15
VBS: A Marvelous Mystery: The Mass Comes Alive!
At the VBS Closing Mass on Friday, one of the Prayers of Faithful offered prayed, “Lord, you revealed yourself in a way that confused the proud. Help us all to become humble children that we may become closer to you and begin to understand your great mysteries.”
The Nature of a Parable...
And therein lies our challenge today, and every day, when we approach the Lord here at His table. The Lord reveals Himself in the mystery of the Trinity, in the mystery of His Body and Blood, and in the mystery of His Word, which today comes to us in the form of parables.
Simply put, parables are an explicit comparison of one item to another. More than just an analogy, or an image, parables tell us what God is like by comparing God's being or behavior to something familiar and known in the culture. Sometimes the parables outline what God and/or His reign iare similar to, while others define how they are different from... This week, we hear of the mighty cedar, and a tender shoot. We hear of an obvious part of Jesus' culture, in the planting and the harvesting of the field, and we’re told of the smallest of seeds and how it becomes the largest of shrub.
An Old Testament Parable… A Place for Us All…
First reading from Ezekiel: “I, too, will take from the crest of the cedar, from its topmost branches tear off a tender shoot, and plant it on a high and lofty mountain; on the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it… Birds of every kind shall dwell beneath it, every winged thing in the shade of its boughs.”
God’s Brings Forth Life and Share It With ALL… Ezekiel describes all the work God does to bring forth life so that all may dwell within in it
Pope Francis’ Joy of the Gospel… “The Gospel has an intrinsic principle of totality: it will always remain good news until it has been proclaimed to all people, until it has healed and strengthened every aspect of humanity, until it has brought all men and women together at table in God’s kingdom.”
The Hint of the Obvious… If God shares life, we allow the same to occur in our lives.
And That’s the Way It Is…
The Gospel of Mark: Jesus said to the crowds: “This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and through it all the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.”
Walter Cronkite would sign off the evening news with this phrase each and every night: “And that’s the way it is…” Jesus begins His parable in today’s gospel with, “This is how it is.” He uses two similar parables to teach us that the kingdom is realized in the intersection of our own work (plant the seed) with God's work (the mystery of life growing and bearing fruit). But the Good News is that God's kingdom is assured—the scattered seed will yield a harvest; and the tiny seed will grow into a large plant. “And that’s the way it is!”
Finite Goods and Unlimited Potential…
All Goods are Finite: To understand the parable about sown seed, we must be familiar with a very fundamental conviction common to all peasant societies: “All goods are finite in quantity, that is, limited in number, and already distributed.” In other words, there is no more where this came from.
Any Gain Means You’re a Thief! Any Middle Easterner of Jesus’ day who suddenly realized an increase in goods was considered a thief, because one peasant's gain usually meant another peasant's loss.
The Exception… Yet peasants recognized certain yields, like livestock, a good crop, and children as exceptions. These increases were viewed as imponderable but very welcome gifts from God.
Share the Surplus… Even so, a limited-good culture expected that anyone who realized a sudden windfall should immediately share it with others rather than store it up for personal use in the future (see Lk 12:16-21). To keep it for one's personal benefit manifested greed.
What is God's reign like? In Mark's first parable today, the man is ignorant and perhaps even slothful. After planting the seed, he does nothing to help it along. He neither tills, weeds, nor irrigates the crop. Yet the earth itself brings forth the harvest. If it depends upon human effort, one risks failure. If humans choose to trust God instead of relying upon themselves, unimaginable success can result. The choice is up to the one who hears the parable.
Its not about growth and power and domination…
The Gospel of Mark: It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.”
Another Feature of Parables: Choice! This parable presents a slight variation on the previous one. Mark makes the parable botanically correct: the mustard seed becomes a shrub, sometimes rather large, but it never grows into a tree. Yet Mark notes that the shrub has large branches and that birds can make nests in its shade. The listener is challenged to imagine how great the kingdom will be: will it be small and selective, only admitting a few? or will it look small (like a shrub) but actually be large enough to shelter varieties of birds? The choice is up to the listener.
It’s Only About the Contrast Between the Two Comparisons: It is most important to avoid interpreting this parable by emphasizing the idea of growth, appealing though that may be to modern botanical knowledge and modern evolutionary ideology. The ancients did not understand the process of growth as we do; they thought only of the contrast between the seed and the grown plant or tree.
It’s Not Necessarily About Getting to Point B… It also helps to know that the Kingdom is not like the world, which prides itself on its longest bridges and tallest buildings and biggest cities and most powerful armies. The image of the Kingdom is the mustard seed, “the smallest of all the earth's seeds.” In the Kingdom, one does not have to be president or king to make a difference; the smallest person is great and powerful. In the Kingdom, you don't have to lead successful military campaigns to change the course of history; the smallest action has unlimited potential.
Reign Rather Than Kingdom… You might consider too, that today’s parable is more about describing God’s reign, or His nature, and not the limits of His kingdom, as in a conquering mentality.
We Grow Slow… A mustard seed, among the smallest of the earth, slowly rises and erupts. It unfolds to reign as the largest of shrubs, ample enough for birds to nest and hatch in.
The reign of God, this matter of faith, hope, and love, this kingdom for the ages, need not measure well in isolated moments. It is a living and growing thing.
So also our lives. Life is slow and subtle. Love takes time to show and grow. In life, little acts count. In fact, that is what a life is all about, a long parade of moments deceptively inconsequential.
Children grow before our eyes. But they age imperceptibly. We recognize growth only after it has happened. The full truth of the child is seen after the child is child no more.
Its about making God’s Reign Visible…
The first reading describes all the work God does to bring forth life. The gospel tells us that this life is the kingdom of God become visible and fruitful, sharing the quality of life within and around her.
Much of what we do successfully every day depends upon our cooperation with others. Making visible God's kingdom is first of all the work of God, but isn't it wonderful that God chooses to invite us to cooperate in this great work!
God Takes A Tender Shoot...
From the crest of the cedar...
From the stump of Jesse...
From the work of the Church...
From the heart of God's people...
The care and nurturing is OUR work allowing God to work through us!
From the Psalm: “They shall bear fruit even in old age; vigorous and sturdy shall they be.”
Second reading from Paul to the Corinthians: 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.
ONE MORE TIME, Pope Francis’ Joy of the Gospel… “The Gospel has an intrinsic principle of totality: it will always remain good news until it has been proclaimed to all people, until it has healed and strengthened every aspect of humanity, until it has brought all men and women together at table in God’s kingdom.”
AND THAT’S THE WAY IT IS…
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