Eleventh Sunday Gospel B

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.”

· Jesus teaches using the experiences of the people of his day. They planted and farmed. So, they could relate to his teachings. 

· Underlying this is the role of God in the process. The seed was not created by the farmer. The land was not created by the farmer. The sun and the rain were not created by the farmer. He plants and tends but it the providential work of God that is manifested.

· Jesus says that the Kingdom of God will grow the same way. God has planted the desire in the hearts of people for something more. Those who proclaim and share the Good News of God’s love are those who touch the core of the hearer’s heart. The fruit is the response of the hearer.

 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.”

· Like the mustard seed which is small and seemingly insignificant, the Kingdom of God will such at the beginning. But through the grace of God in the working of those who proclaim the truth of salvation and in the hearers, the Church will spread far and wide and many will be part of it.

· The question we need to ask ourselves is what is our part in this mysterious growth? First, we are the hearers who benefit from the outreach and ministry of others. But we are also called to give to others what we have received. This is also the process of the growth. We can’t just be satisfied to receive; we must be fruitful by passing on the Good News. 

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.