Mark 4:26-34

ELEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Mark 4:26-34

A good Sunday to all. 

Today we will hear two parables of Jesus set in the agricultural world where he grew up. The first one is a precious jewel preserved by the evangelist Mark and not told by the other evangelists. Jesus had already told another parable that we know very well, the parable of the four grounds on which the seed of the word of the Gospel falls. 

And with this first parable, Jesus wanted to present the difficulties the seed of the word encounters to be accepted, take root in the hearts, and produce fruits. He had spoken of three grounds where the seed falls and is lost, but he said that there is a fourth ground where it finds beautiful soil and therefore produces much fruit. He was not referring to four kinds of people, nor that those who seem to be less receptive should be discarded and reserve the announcement to those who are well disposed of. 

This was not the message. Jesus wanted to encourage the preacher by saying: 'keep in mind that many of the seeds you scatter will be lost because those thorns, those stones, and that hard ground, in which the message does not penetrate, are present in every person's heart. But sow with confidence the message of the Gospel, because the beautiful ground is also present in every person.' 

In this first parable, Jesus was referring primarily to the baptized, who realize that the Gospel that they hear in their lives produces very little fruit, and so the invitation is to review why this Gospel did not give great results. The reason was that the soil was not prepared to receive it; it was also neither the fault of the seed, nor the fault of the preachers. Jesus says: 'Check the soil: if there are too many thorns, too many stones, too much hard soil, try to prepare the ground well.' 

Today's parable is not addressed to those who receive the word but to those who announce it. Let us think of the explanations we hear today from priests, catechists, from parents who want to instill in the hearts and minds of their children the message of the Gospel and who also witness to it with their lives; and also the example of all Christians, especially of the most committed ones, who, in the context of their professional work or meetings with friends refer to the Gospel when they present their life proposals, their judgments on the political reality and commit themselves to incarnate the message of the Gospel. 

What kind of speeches do Christians make, starting with priests? They are speeches of discouraged people. They follow with more passion the life of the Church, of which they feel themselves living members. You can see the suffering on their faces when they listen to the ruthless data collected by the news: hundreds of churches in Europe that are closed or deconsecrated, transformed into bookstores, museums, stores, or simply left in a state of abandonment. For example, in the Netherlands, the spectacular cathedral of Utrecht which is no longer used as a church. It has been offered for sale to the neighboring museum for a symbolic price of one euro. 

The most committed Christians suffer when they learn of this ecclesial reality, of the abandonment of the religious practice, and of the life proposals that surround us and that seduce especially the new generations. These life proposals are not those of the Gospel; they are different. 

Until a few decades ago, it was not possible to understand our society without referring to God and the values preached by Christianity; today, we can understand the world and a society very well without referring to God. On the contrary, today, we cannot understand people if we do not refer to money, to pleasure and amusement. The secularist world rejoices in this situation and repeats to us Christians that our time has come and that we must resign ourselves to disappear. 

In this context, one can read discouragement in the faces of priests, catechists, and Christian parents. They do not say it, but they think it is better to resign themselves. Why continue to talk about the Gospel to those who are not interested and are looking for something else? Does Jesus have something to say to these discouraged disciples? 

Today he answers our questions with a first parable, precisely to the questions I have mentioned. Let's listen to the first part of this parable, where a farmer works. It is very brief: 

“Jesus said, ‘This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land.’" 

Jesus is explaining to the multitude the kingdom of God, and we know that the kingdom of God does not mean paradise, the hereafter, as some still think; it means 'the here now,' it is in this world that Jesus wants to establish his kingdom, that he initiated with his person and his message, it is here where he wants an alternative and truly human society to begin. Then, naturally, this kingdom of God will be implemented in fullness in the Father's house. 

"The kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land." And who is this sower? Jesus and after him, the disciples are called to give continuity to his mission. They must cast this seed which is the message of the Gospel, and we notice that the sower scatters the seed; it means he is sowing widely, and the seed falls everywhere; he throws it abundantly. 

It means that the message of the Gospel must be announced to all; it is not reserved for anyone in particular, but the whole of humanity must take advantage of this proposal. The disciples of Christ must announce the Gospel to all, to all peoples, to all cultures, to all religions. This word of salvation must be proclaimed. 

Where does this seed fall? Jesus has chosen well the image that he employs because his hearers know their land. In all of Israel, the ground is full of stones, so much so that the rabbis said when God created the world, he had four measures of stones and three He used for Israel. And every meter of a field must be conquered by taking away the stones that are then used to build those stone walls that mark the boundary of the property. These walls will then protect them from wild animals, wild boars and foxes that devastate the crops. There are also many bushes, thorns, and weeds. 

And you must add that in Israel, there's a lot of sunshine and not much rain and so planting in this kind of soil is an act of faith and hope of the farmers. Faith in the strength of the seed, which has a vital force that resists all difficulties and finally germinates, but it is also trusting in the soil because despite all the obstacles that nature and external agents put in the way, the farmer is sure that the land will give its fruits. 

It is the same, says Jesus, with the proclamation of the word. It is an act of faith of the preacher, faith in the vital force of this word, that can produce extraordinary fruits, of changing people's hearts, of creating a new world, and it is faith not only in the power of the evangelical seed but faith in people who were created very well, that are made to accept this word, and it is a faith that must be cultivated. 

Why, what does the sower of the Gospel see? What does the priest see after the homily he has prepared with care, and it seems to him that it had gone well when he did his preaching on Sunday? What fruit does he see after he has cast that seed in the field? When he is in the sacristy, he hears the people who are still reasoning as before, as if they had not listened to the homily; the reasonings of everybody influence them, they continue arguing as before and go on reasoning, talking about banalities... 

What does the catechist see, who, with emotional dedication, spends all Saturday afternoon in the parish? What does she see? The children who come out of catechesis return to play soccer and return to quarrel as before, as if they had not listened the catechism lesson; they are interested in the latest model of iPad, electronic games, share the record they have managed to set in their games... 

What does the mother who has instilled gospel values in her children's hearts see? When they turn 18, they don't want to go to church anymore, and then, has the work of these Gospel sowers been useless? 

Beware of the error of expecting to see the result immediately; like the seed, even the Gospel message requires time to be assimilated and bear fruit. The sowers of the Gospel must be patient, cultivate hope in the certainty in the vitality of the Gospel seed. The sower Jesus must also have had this patience. Let us think about what he saw sprouting from his disciples: discouragement. 

I often say to parents and catechists: You have sown, you have worked hard, trust now in the seed of the Gospel. If what you proclaimed was the true Gospel, not credulity or banality, your children, your catechism students, will no longer be spared. Ten or twenty years may pass, but that seed will eventually sprout. You may not live to see the results of your work but be certain that these results will come. Someday that seed will sprout. 

Sometimes I also tell the parents that they must rest and sleep, as the parable will say in a moment. The sower has finished his work; now he must depart, now your help is no longer needed, it is the seed that must deal with the soil. You don't have to teach the seed what to do. 

So, let's listen now to what Jesus tells us about what's going on under the ground: 

"And would sleep and rise night and day, and 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 whole grain in the ear." 

In the first part of the parable, we saw that Jesus quickly presented the farmer's work: He just sows the seed; now, on the other hand, the parable proceeds very slowly because Jesus wants to present what happens under the ground when the farmer is not there. "And would sleep and rise night and day"… the farmer goes about his life quietly no longer thinking about what is happening on the soil because he can no longer do anything about it, it no longer depends on him, and he doesn't even know what's happening underneath the earth. 

It's also the experience that I do: I may have given a lecture in a classroom or online, but in the end, I go to sleep, I don't worry anymore. Now it's the word of the Gospel that must deal with the heart of the people who have heard this message. I'm not involved anymore; I just go to sleep peacefully; I must get out of the way. 

Then Jesus considers the time that passes: "By night he lies down, by day he rises." The days and nights pass, then follow the seasons. After the sowing comes the winter, it is cold, and snow comes, and the farmer stays in the house and rests. Then comes the spring when the seed begins to sprout and to grow; then, the farmer can contemplate the miracle of nature and see that the seed produces first the stalk, then the ear, and then the full grain in the ear. 

You can see how Jesus was a careful observer of nature. This parable is presented in the contrast between the inactivity of the farmer who, after sowing, rests and the vitality of the seed which draws from the earth all its life force and produces fruit. It is the invitation of Jesus to the certainty that the seed of the Gospel when has been cast into the ground ends up sprouting and bearing fruit. 

Let us now listen to the conclusion of the parable: 

"And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come." 

The farmer is patient; he knows how to wait for the fruit to rip. When the fruit is ripe, he uses the sickle, not before. We live in an ever more accelerated world where we want to see the result immediately; we believe only in what we can prove today and, therefore, quick scheduling and decisive interventions are the norm because production rates are pressing. 

This haste and impatience are understandable for those who run a company that goes from production to consumer, but we are not in the context of production here but in the world of love where decisions cannot be made hastily but must be considered and free. The lightning of love may indeed strike like a thunderbolt; lightning also falls on those who hear the Gospel: those immediate enthusiasms that last only for a short time. 

Haste is not of God, is not of Christ, and should not be of the Christian because haste does not favor free choices, pondered and matured wisely. What Jesus wants is for the disciple who proclaims his Gospel to understand that he should not be in a hurry, he should not expect to see the fruit of his labor immediately, but he must cultivate the certainty that this fruit will come. After the hard work of sowing, the disciple has nothing else to do but to be patient and confident. 

Jesus presented in a parable the message of joy and hoped present in the famous text of Isaiah that Jesus knew very well and that also the preachers of the Gospel should always keep in mind; is the text found in the wonderful text of Isaiah, in chapter 55: "Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty but shall do what pleases me, achieving the end for which I sent it." 

And now, let's listen to the second parable: 

"He said, 'To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use? It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, it 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 the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.' With many such parables, he spoke the word to them as they could understand it. He did not speak to them without parables, but to his disciples, he explained everything in private." 

Jesus introduces the second parable with two questions: "To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? What parable can we use for it?" These are rhetorical questions, but his listeners, the crowds, and the disciples had the answer ready: 'The kingdom of God will be with a cedar of Lebanon.' They are not the ones who invented this image, but it is found in the prophet Ezekiel who, to describe Syria at the height of its splendor, and says in chapter 31 that it had become like a cedar of Lebanon, beautiful in its branches, thick in its foliage, high in its trunk, and its top was even above the clouds. 

How would Israel become, one day, a people which has always been insignificant on the international chessboard because it is in the middle of the great empires of the Mesopotamian East and those of Egypt that have always crushed it? But one day says the prophet Ezekiel: "The Lord will take a branch of a cedar and plant it on a high mountain, the mountain of Israel, and this cedar shall become huge; it shall shoot forth branches, it shall bear fruit, it shall become majestic, magnificent, and under it shall dwell all the birds, the birds shall rest in the shadow of its branches." 

Of whom was he speaking? Of Israel, which one day would become the kingdom under which all other kingdoms and peoples would take refuge. This is the greatness of the cedar. This is what the disciples would have suggested to Jesus: 'we also must become like this.' The greatness of the cedar was also proverbial for the righteous. Psalm 92 says: “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree; he shall grow like a Lebanon cedar.” 

Jesus disappoints them; he takes up the image they have in mind, the proud image of the cedar, but develops it in his way, it demolishes it; it knocks down this greatness. There is greatness, but it's not the greatness of the cedar, and he takes the image of the smallest of seeds, the mustard seed. It was proverbial for its smallness. 

What is the image that Jesus uses? The comparison between the smallness of that seed that develops in a single season. That seed gives rise to a bush that can reach two or three meters; it's not a cedar of Lebanon; it has a different grandeur. Jesus says it grows and becomes greater than all the vegetables in the garden. 

It is not a cedar, it speaks of special greatness among the vegetables of the garden, 'λαχάνων'= 'lajanon' in Greek. It means a shrub, but it's amazing that it grows to that size from a small seed. It's an ordinary little plant and there's nothing showy about it; it grows among the vegetables in the house, among the eggplants, the artichokes, vegetables, but it has its greatness; it is not that of those who admire the great cedars; it is a different greatness. Therefore, Jesus does not intend to make prophecies about the bright future of the Church, which began with poor fishers, but which later is destined to become a large and strong society capable of being respected even by the kingdoms and empires of this world. NO. 

The progress of the kingdom of God is not evaluated in this way because, in the Gospel of Luke, it is said that the kingdom of God cannot be seen externally; it is within, in the heart of each person; we find this saying of Jesus In chapter 17 of Luke. What does this tiny seed mean? It means that where the Gospel is received there begins the kingdom of God; something extraordinary happens in the heart of the person; it is an unexpected event, an inner transformation that leaves everyone astonished, but it has nothing to do with the astonishment that the stars that succeed in this world awaken, no, it's different greatness. 

The miser who exploits the most desperate to accumulate money has lost his mind for the sake of this world's goods and one day, he accepts a little seed, a little Gospel; this seed develops in him and provokes something extraordinary, an unexpected decision; he begins to see the needs of the poor, begins to help the needy. This is a greatness that is not realized on the outside, but within the hearts of the people. This is not the greatness of the cedars in front of which everyone is astonished and are enchanted. It is the greatness within, the greatness of love, which is the only true greatness. 

Jesus uses again the image of the mustard seed to speak of the extraordinary, amazing effects, of faith. Matthew chapter 17:20 says, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move." Nothing is impossible. Faith in the Gospel produces something extraordinary, something that for humans is impossible, like moving a mountain. Some mountains separate us, that divide us, certain hatreds, certain grudges that will never move—we say. The Gospel can move them if you give it your adherence. 

Then Jesus says that in the branches of this mustard seed that has grown, the birds of the air can find a home in its shade. The birds of the air is a reference to a prophecy made by the prophet Ezekiel that upon the cedar tree would perch the birds of the sky. What are these birds? In the bible, they represent the pagan peoples; in the book of Genesis, it is said that these birds, these pagan peoples, wanted to impede Abraham's covenant with God, and Abraham drove them away. 

Now Jesus says that these peoples that are far from the kingdom of God will seek refuge, and they will come near to the kingdom of God, and they will be welcomed in the arms, among the branches of this bush that sprang from a little seed. The Christian community is represented here by this little mustard tree. What was Jesus trying to say? The kingdom of God welcomes all; it is a modest reality that despises no one, makes no one feel unworthy, and all may find their dwelling place in the shadow of this mustard that is the kingdom of God; even those who feel they are far from God because they live in sinful conditions should not feel rejected. They should feel welcomed among the branches of this mustard, which are the welcoming arms of the Christian community. 

With today's two parables, Jesus wants to instill joy and optimism in us. Many of the greatness of our Church will be reduced. It is about the greatness of the cedars of Lebanon, the greatness of the kingdoms of this world that have seduced us throughout the centuries. The attachment to this greatness has tarnished our identity as servants of the One who became the servant of all. 

Providence is stripping us of this greatness, but in the depths of the people, the seed of the Gospel and the kingdom of God will continue to grow unstoppably for in this seed is a power not of this world but from heaven. This is the reason for our hope. 

I wish you all a good Sunday and a good week.