Homily for the 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time, June 13, 2021. Gospel: Mark 4:26-34. Theme: That Amazing Mustard-Seed Sized Faith!
Jesus says a couple of things in today’s gospel that I think need a little more looking into on our part. First, he keeps referring to something called the Kingdom of God. It actually will go on to become his #1 preaching and teaching theme. Second, he compares this Kingdom to something so small and ordinary as a seed. So, what in the world does he mean?
The Kingdom of God doesn’t refer to a place but more so to an attitude, to an inner state of being. It’s a way of living and thinking and acting that originates in a heart where God is enthroned as King. Others can be drawn to this reign of God, this rule of God, this Lordship of God in each one of us by seeing our acts of love, peace, mercy, compassion and justice. The Kingdom has the power to change us from the inside out and transform even the most wrecked and devastated of lives into something beautiful for God.
Jesus then goes on to compare the spreading of this Kingdom to the planting of seeds, with special attention to the tiniest of them all, the mustard seed. It reminds me of the saying: “good things come in small packages.” I think what Jesus is saying is that even just a little trust in God contains within it the power to do the impossible. This mustard-seed sized faith, watered and nourished by divine grace, can enable the Kingdom of God to emerge from within us, bringing peace of heart to others and confronting the evil and injustice we see in the world. We have proof of this in the lives of some heroic Christians who have gone before us.
In 1948, Mother Teresa of Calcutta was just an ordinary nun like many others, teaching high school to wealthy girls in India. But every day she came face-to-face with the destitute poverty and desperate hunger among the poor outcasts in the streets. Her mustard-seed sized faith that God could somehow use her to do something about it moved her to leave her comfortable convent and live among the poor. It didn’t seem like much at first. It was a simply something she could do to try and get closer to the destitute and the dying to help them.
Many years later, after she was world famous and the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Mother Teresa was asked how it all started. She replied, “I never thought of doing anything big. One day, I just saw one poor abandoned dying man lying in the street and so I picked him up and brought him home.” Today, there are over 4,000 Missionaries of Charity Sisters and Brothers relieving the suffering of hundreds of thousands across the globe. All because the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed that grows to become a large world-embracing bush.
In 1964, Rosa Parks, a devout Christian black woman in Montgomery, AL, was on a segregated bus-ride home after a long day at work. She was tired and at one of the stops, 4 black passengers were told to give up their seats for on-boarding white passengers. 3 of them got up but Rosa stayed put. The mustard-seed sized Kingdom of God within her was enough to inform her that she had dignity just as much as anyone else and so she remained seated. Rosa was arrested on the spot and also lost her job.
Once the word about Rosa’s actions got out to the public, this Kingdom of God mustard tree began to spread its branches among the black population. They boycotted the local bus system for 381 consecutive days, bringing it to its financial knees. This ultimately resulted in the US Supreme Court ruling in favor of racial equality and jump-started the civil rights movement. All because the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed that grows to become a large world-embracing bush.
Their stories should make us ask ourselves: “What small mustard-seed is Jesus asking me to plant for the good of others?” That’s something that only we can know for ourselves through prayer and an open heart. And we must not dismiss this idea as foolish just because we have no great social influence to make a difference. That’s a worldly way of thinking, not Jesus’ way of thinking. We must never forget that Mother Teresa did not have the slightest clue that picking up one dying man would result in an international movement of service to the poorest of the poor. And Rosa Parks had absolutely no idea that her refusal to give up her seat on that segregated bus would become the catalyst for a worldwide racial equality movement. They were, each one of them, simply acting upon their mustard-seed sized faith and doing what little thing they thought they could do, at that time and in that place.
And so, let’s each ask ourselves how Jesus might want to use us to sow mustard seeds of peace and unity in the midst of so much injustice and suffering around us today. Trust him if he puts an idea into your heart that seems challenging…be willing to step out of your comfort zone because…it’s absolutely amazing what God can do even just through one person who decides to plant a tiny mustard seed of the Kingdom of God in the soil of everyday life.
The two indeed meet: Mother St. Teresa & Rosa Parks
“God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for nothing. I shall do good; I shall do His work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments.
Therefore, I will trust Him, whatever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He does nothing without a purpose. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me. Still, I will trust for He knows what He is about.”
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