XI Sunday in OT : Eze 17:22-24, 2Cori 5:6-10; Mk 4:26-34
Do you
know what happened to the tiny seed Rita Rizzo planted? You probably don't
recognize the name, Rita Antoinette Rizzo. Rita was born on April 20, 1923. She
had a rough childhood which she spent mostly in poverty. When she was a young
woman Rita decided to become a nun. At 21 she entered the Poor Clares of
Perpetual Adoration, a Franciscan religious order for women. She believed that
God was calling her into television ministry. At the time she didn't know
anything about television except how to turn one on. But she prayed about it
and decided to go ahead with the project, believing that everything would fall
into place. With only two hundred dollars and a handful of other sisters, she
became the only woman in religious broadcasting to own a network. She went on
to found a new house for the order in 1962 in Irondale, Alabama,
where the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), is headquartered. In 1996 she
initiated the building of the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament and Our Lady
of the Angels monastery in Hanceville,
Alabama. Today this sister,
Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation, is seen by millions of people on her
prerecorded twice weekly program, "Mother Angelica Live." Her
network, EWTN, is available 24 hours a day everywhere in the world. Whoever
would have thought that from such a tiny seed would develop such a large shrub?
That is the way the kingdom
of God works.
Today's
readings are about the birth and growth of the reign or rule of God (Kingdom of God), in human lives and about the
gigantic growth of the Church from very humble beginnings. Both growths are
slow and mysterious, guided by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The first
reading, taken from Ezekiel 17:22-24, is a messianic prophecy. The prophet
tells us how the Lord God of Israel
will allow a descendant of King David to become the Messiah and savior of the
world. In contrast with the parable of
tiny the mustard seed in
today's gospel, Ezekiel
sees the Messiah
originating in a royal family
(lofty Cedar, David). In the second reading, St. Paul teaches the Corinthian
Christians that they are to please God by doing His will (thus advancing the
growth of God's kingdom and His rule in their lives), so that they may be amply
rewarded in the final judgment. In today's gospel, Jesus compares the growth of
the kingdom of God to the germination of a wheat seed
and that of a tiny mustard seed. Both have very small beginnings. The wheat
seeds, by gradual but steady growth help the farmer to get a bumper crop. In
the same way, the life principle in a tiny mustard seed enables it to grow into
a large bush. The reign of God in human hearts and the growth of the Church in
the world also have small beginnings. But the Source of all life, God the Holy
Spirit, gives to both a steady, persistent and gigantic growth. Jesus' use of a
mustard plant instead of a great cedar continues the image of humble beginnings
for the great power that is to come.
Mark’s community would have recognized the mustard plant as appropriate
for Jesus' own earthly ministry. The
Messiah came as an itinerant teacher/rabbi who gathered a few ordinary people
to be his disciples. Jesus' incarnational presence was like that of a mustard
plant, not an imposing cedar. He was not a Messiah of towering strength with
great political, financial and military power.
Yet the divinely ordained growth
of that small beginning resulted in the same kind of exponential growth and
presence — inviting all the "birds of the air" to make their nests
within its branches.
The Kingdom of God is the growth of God's rule in human
hearts that occurs when man does the will of God and surrenders his life to
God. The seed of faith lies dormant within each of us. When we permit the Holy
Spirit to nurture it, it grows miraculously into gigantic proportions. The
growth is slow and microscopic in the beginning. But this seed grows by using
the power of the Holy Spirit, given to us through the word of God, the Mass,
the sacraments and prayers. As we learn God's will from His words and try to
put these words into practice, we participate in the growth of God's kingdom on
earth which will be completed in our heavenly life.
We can all plant tiny seeds in the form of words of love and
encouragement, acts of charity, mercy and forgiveness. The Holy Spirit will touch the hearts of the
recipients of these seeds sown by us and will effect growth of the kingdom in
their souls and lives. As the apostle Paul once said of his ministry,
"Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only
god who gives the growth” (Corinthians 3:7).
One morning Johnny told his mother "Mom, I am not happy in
this house, Dad never smiles, I can't make him happy. He seems like a monster
to me. The only thing that is important to him are rules and duties. I don't
know how you have put up with him all these years? Rita being a loving woman of
faith was sad to hear these words from her son. In the evening as Johnny
entered the house he heard his parents talking, his mother Rita said
"Johnny is very angry with you. He is afraid of you. I am worried about
what he might do?” Bobby replied “My sweet darling, I love my son more than you
can even imagine. I have tried to provide for him in the best way I know how; I
have saved money for his studies; and plan to buy him a car soon, I have been
working to find him the best University to attend. You give him love and I give
him discipline for life. He needs both to survive and so that our son will be
his best. What Johnny could do was weeping of love towards his father. Dear
children, mothers – Understand the strain of fathers.
Dear Fathers in Christ, let us remember “Great things are not done
on impulse, but by a series of small steps taken over a period of time. Our lives are made up of little tings-little
deeds, little happenings, and so on. If
there is something which we want to do, let us not hesitate and think too
much. Let us make a start, however
small. Let us take one step. Let us plant one seed. “Happy Fathers Day!”
No comments:
Post a Comment