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Year - B

Homily for the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

READ: (Ezek 17: 22-24; 2 Cor 5: 6-10; Mk 4: 26-34)

REFLECT:  Establish God’s kingdom on earth…

My dear friends, today we are in the 11th Sunday in Ordinary time. Everyone has a purpose or objective in life. Purpose creates meaning in life and makes us realize for what reasons we are on earth here for. Similarly, Jesus to had a purpose of his coming, living and going back to His Heavenly Father, that is, to establish the kingdom of God, spread the message of  the Kingdom of God, living the kingdom values and making others to live and abide the same. Perhaps, making the kingdom of God present here and now is what the Lord wants, because it is God’s kingdom and rule that plays a vital role. We are just part of the Kingdom of God that God has gifted to us. Therefore, we have no kingdom of our own rather we are children of the Kingdom of God, where God is our head and guide. So based on the liturgy of the word, I would like to share with you three points of reflections;

1.     We are not owners of the kingdom of God rather partakers of the Kingdom:

God is the source and summit of the kingdom. It is he who works, plans, animates and executes and we are just runners or co-workers with God’s kingdom. The sole authority of God is what we see in the readings of the day. The First reading from the Prophet Ezekiel very beautifully God says, I bring low the high tree and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I am the Lord. I have spoken and I will do it. The words of the Lord through prophet Ezekiel remind us of God’s nature and character. It speaks of the power and wisdom of God, support and solidarity with his people.

The passage from Prophet Ezekiel very beautifully affirms and assures the Lord’s promise of restoration to his people. It also reminds us that the Lord will take one of the highest branches of the high cedar and set it out; crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and will plant it on a high and prominent mountain. It is on this mountain height of Israel God will plant it; and it will bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a majestic cedar. Under it will dwell every sort of living creatures and creation; and everyone shall know that brought down the high tree and exalted the low tree, dried up the green tree and made the dry tree flourish. These words of God through the Prophet Ezekiel that God have every power to plant and to pluck out. All that exists and has its being are in God, because of God’s power, providence and prominence. The new cedar on the top is not any Babylonian kings who ruled and ruined the people of God (Jehoiachin and Zedekiah) rather a royal king from the lineage of David, under whom all shall live in safety and security, peace and joy. It is an indication of the future event about Christ, under whom as a King, in His Kingdom, we all would be living as one family.

Today, there is a tendency in many of us that we are the owners of kingdoms, properties, positions, powers, life, gifts, things on earth that we own, forgetting that we have nothing with us rather all that we have is given by God and belongs to God. Such a tendency to own for oneself is the cause of our downfall and defeat in life, because it makes us feel that no one has authority over us or power over us. But the fact is that we as humans may not have complete power over the other but God in all his sovereignty has every power over us. That’s the indication of the first reading from Prophet Ezekiel, where God says, “everyone shall know that I have brought down the high tree and exalted the low tree, dried up the green tree and made the dry tree flourish.”  So let us realize that we are all children of God, where God is our Father and head of all. He owns us and we belong to him. We are his and he has every power. All that we have is from his good will and goodness. Let us become participants and pointers to people towards the kingdom of God.

Something similar we find in the Gospel reading of the day, where Jesus presents to us the parable, comparing what the Kingdom o f God looks like. The presentation of the parable concerning the farmer sowing seed but he does not know how it grows although he plants , waters and manures it and harvests it in due time. How the plant grows is the work and power of God. Similarly how the kingdom of God grows, spreads and stands still is the work of God and we are all co-working to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. Let our contribution towards the kingdom of God be true and sincere that we may understand that the work of establishing God’s kingdom is the work of God and we are just doing what God asks of us to do, by living a life of joyful witness and service to one another in the world.  

2.     Kingdom of God requires courage, faith and doing what pleases God:

It is true that we are co-workers of the Kingdom and God is owner, Kingdom of God is a family unit and to make this actualize on earth we need courage, we need faith and we need to do what pleases God. This is the message we have in the second reading from Paul in his second letter to Corinthians. We are of good courage, we walk by faith and not by sight, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please God. The passage of the first reading from St. Paul reminds us how death has no power over us and we are not to be worried or frightened. We all know that for St. Paul death was not an end of life rather it is a new beginning of life in God.

Today I would like to focus from the second reading the two confident and encouraging statements of St. Paul in his letter to Second Corinthians. St. Paul rightly says that “We live by faith and not by sight.” Yes, our life is not to be lived as what we see but what we believe. For us Christians believing in God is more important than mere seeing. With our sense perception we won’t be able to see all that is in-depth related to spirituality of our living and our faith in God. Most of us have the tendency to only believe what we see but Christian faith demands that we need to believe what we can’t see or do not see. It is a life of faith in God and that’s why we say during the Holy mass, “Let us proclaim the Mystery of Faith.” The mystery of faith that we proclaim contains mysterious elements. For elements of mystery it is not enough that we only see rather believe. Our faith does not rely on appearance that we see rather the reality that is deep inside hidden, which cannot be seen with mere human eyes rather with divine faith in God. So let us pray that we believe what we profess and concerning it what we see and what we do not believe we look at it with deep faith and trust in God.

The second statement that St. Paul exhorts us is “Whether we are at home or away, our aim is to please God.” We all of us are interested where we would be in the future, whether in heaven or elsewhere. But for us Christians, it does not matter where we are, whether we are in this world or with God, our prime purpose is to please God in life. But what happens as we continue to exist or live on earth, we become people who are fixed with the ideas and ideals of the world and forget to live on values of the kingdom, which supposed to our prime aim. That’s why St. Paul very clearly mentions that our aim is to please God and not the world. In what way we can live our lives on earth to please God are to remain true to his commandments of love, loving him, one another and oneself whole-heartedly and faithfully. In this regard, Pope Francis would affirm saying, “the joy of finding the treasure of the Kingdom of God shines through, it’s visible. The Christian cannot keep his faith hidden, because it shines through in every word, in every deed, even the most simple and mundane: the love that God has given through Jesus shines through. Yes, let our faith be seen in word and deed that we say and do, thus making the kingdom of God accessible for all.

3.     Kingdom of God is one family unit:

The Kingdom of God is an umbrella under which everyone stays united in faith, charity and love with each other. Jesus makes us understand very promisingly how this kingdom of God is a one family unit by presenting to us the parable of the mustard seed that becomes a tree and avails itself place for birds to take shelter; a small seed growing into a big tree and giving shade to many. Yes, under one tree, called kingdom of God we all take shelter, initially we are planted as seeds, take deep roots through the land and we become part of the bigger tree of the kingdom of God. In this one family unit of Kingdom of God, all are God’s children, everyone can take shelter, rest and obtain peace and joy in life.

Today we speak of different possibilities of doing many possible things; a possibility of going to the moon, a possibility of climbing the Mount Everest, even the scientists have found that there is a possibility of life on mars, and a possibility of obtaining goals and success in life. But is there a possibility of entering into the Kingdom of God? Yes! There is a possibility for the one who lives in love, the one who works for justice, the one who brings peace to mankind, the one who undergoes suffering for the establishment of the Kingdom of God. We may ask what the kingdom of God all about is. In the perspective of faith and our belief, it is a place of peace, justice and righteousness, joy and happiness where every tear will be wiped away, where righteousness would reign, where love and joy shall flow like the streams of living water under God’s commands.

Certainly, the mainstream of the Gospel is Kingdom of God. That is what we see in the Gospel, Jesus explaining to people what is the kingdom of God is all about? How does the Kingdom of God grow? Ultimately and more certainly, it is God who makes the kingdom of God spread all over the world. Indeed, we are in the hyper-active world, we get things done within a fraction of second and we are in the world of ready-made brand or group, where all things are available and we need to just use it. However, in different sphere of life we use various means to teach people as per our calibre but Jesus used the simplest means that was available and that was down to earth to people. It is the daily experiences of the people narrated through allegories, stories and parables to make things understandable and intelligible to people. And so we have today, the parable of the Sower and the parable of the mustard seed. The parable of the sower tells us that the seed is scattered, it sprouts and grows and it is ready for the harvest. But we do not know how it grows and sprouts through. And that is the possibility for God making the Kingdom of God to grow by itself, for the Word of God never returns without any effort.

Moreover, the parable of the mustard seed tells us that the seed of mustard is very small in size but once it grows it becomes huge in size. It can give shelter and shade to many. Similar is the result of our Catholic Church too. Christianity was never at sight before Jesus could come. Initially, it was like a mustard seed, small in number but today Christianity has spread all over, in every nook and corner of the world. It is the work of God in and through the ardent followers and missionaries, who followed Christ zealously and devoutly. We see down the centuries Christianity had undergone enormous crisis but still the Church of God stands firm. It is all because of the grace of God bestowed on the Church. Therefore, the possibility of God is always a wonder for our human eyes and minds.

As Pope Francis very beautifully says, “While weak humans may want spectacular signs of God at work, most often God’s kingdom is growing in quiet, hidden ways. The kingdom of God is silent,” growing like a seed underground. The Holy Spirit makes it grow, (but) with our openness, on the ground that we must prepare.” Yes, for human minds and eyes, the work of God is always a wonder and beyond comprehension, but God does everything for good of us to be part of the Kingdom that he has prepared for us. So Let us accept God’s plans for us and dwell in his love always. So that what we feel as impossible within our limits and limitations, God will make it possible, when we believe in God and do it with utmost faith.

RESPOND:

Do we realize that we are not owners of any kingdom on earth rather God is the only King and He is the owner of every Kingdom established on earth and in heaven?

Do we have courage, faith and fervor to establish the Kingdom of God on earth with the help of God?

Do we realize that the Kingdom of God is one family unit and contribute to the growth of each other to enter the Kingdom of God?

Let us realize that we are participants of God’s Kingdom where God is our owner, pray for faith and courage to establish God’s kingdom and become part of the one family unit – Kingdom of God.  Amen. 

God bless us all! Live Jesus!

Fr. Ramesh George MSFS

rameshvkmsfs@gmail.com

9500930968