The Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 13, 2021

Mark 4:26–34

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.”  He said, “To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? 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.” With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it. Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.

The Lord Jesus tells two parables, in the Gospel reading for today’s Mass, to help us understand something of the nature of the kingdom of God.  Before we look at what he says, we ought to think about why he says it.  Why does Jesus tell us what the kingdom of God is like?  He tells us so that we will want to go there and so that we can know that we can get there.  He also tells us what the kingdom of God is for, which helps us to look beyond ourselves.

To answer the question, “How is it with the kingdom of God?” the Lord says, “It is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land.”  The Greek says, “In what manner” is the kingdom of God.  That is, how does it function, what is its nature.  The Lord says that it is like a man scattering seed, and then without his further action or even knowledge, it grows: “Of its own accord the land yields fruit.”  The man scatters the seed with the intention of having this growth and in order to inaugurate it, but the growth itself is beyond his power.  He cannot create life or growth; he can only provide a certain action that will allow for this.  The growth of the crop itself is in stages, a more wondrous thing than if it sprang up out of the earth in full form: “First the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.”  This growth in stages over time reminds the man that it is “of its own accord” and it also allows him time to admire its beauty.  Here, the Lord speaks of spiritual growth in a person who formerly lay barren, like a flat piece of ground unadorned without any growth.  The “man”, then, is the Holy Spirit or one through whom the Holy Spirit works.  He casts out seeds in an apparently random way at a given target and then continues his course.  The “seed” is grace or something acting as an instrument of grace: a word at an apt time, a holy card, a Bible, the sight of a stained glass window or a beautiful church, or a snatch of Gregorian chant.  Grace is always beautiful and its seed is most fruitfully contained in that which is beautiful.  Once implanted, life bursts out of the seed: that is, faith.  Faith is the fruit of grace.  It grows in a person in stages: few things are truly sudden in our world.  “And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.”  Each believer receives all the time necessary to grow until their faith and virtue is as perfect as it can become.  And then it is time for the harvest.  While the harvest may seem hard to those in the world, it is a gracious and merciful conclusion.  When a person achieves the heights to which it is possible for him to attain in faith and virtue, the temptations and tribulations that have been allowed to perfect him cease to provide any benefit and can perhaps only cause detriment.

The Lord compliments this parable about the manner of the kingdom of God with another: “It is like a mustard seed.”  The Lord here emphasizes the mystery of the grace that causes the growth in faith that leads to salvation: it “is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth.”  He does not say only that it is very small, he says that it is “the smallest of all the seeds”.  Almighty God uses the “smallest” seed in order to show that the work is his, not ours.  We can convey the seed and scatter it about, but the work is his.  In knowing this we can truly know that it will sprout and grow and host the “birds of the air”, allowing our faith to grow as well.  These “birds of the air” are the angels of heaven, who delight in the saints on earth, and welcome them into the fullness of life with God.