2015/06/14 — 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Ordinary Time is the time between the end of the Christmas Season and the beginning of Lent, and then between Pentecost and Advent. So we've been in Ordinary Time for the past three weeks, but the past two Sundays were solemnities, which replaced the Masses for the Sundays of Ordinary Time. So, between the stretch of time from Christmastide to Lent and the past three weeks, we've already had nine weeks of Ordinary Time. Another week of Ordinary Time usually has to be dropped to make the season fit into the available dates. So here we are at the 11th Sunday.


During Ordinary Time the gospel readings are mostly a semi-continuous selection from one of the synoptic gospels — Matthew in Year A, Mark in Year B, and Luke inYear C — leaving out the Infancy, Passion, and Resurrection accounts. But in Year B, which is the current year, there is a series from the 6th chapter of John inserted in place of Mark's account of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, as we'll see in August. For now, the gospel readings are from Mark.

The first readings are usually from the Old Testament and are chosen to complement the gospel, and the second readings are an independent series from the other books of the New Testament.


Today's first reading is Ezekiel 17:22-24. This passage was written at the time of the Babylonian Captivity. The image of a cedar is used as a metaphor for the House of King David. So the promise is that the Lord will establish a new king in the line of David, and his kingdom will flourish. The Lord governs the rise and fall of kingdoms.

As Christians, we see Jesus as the promised king. The history of the past 2000 years shows us that his kingdom does not have unhindered growth. Christianity spread around the Mediterranean Sea and the Middle East. As it spread northward into Europe, Islam reduced it considerably in the Middle East, Northern Africa, and Spain. The discovery of the New World began a period of missionary expansion and migration through the Americas and into parts of Africa and Asia, followed by a decline in Europe and now in North America. What witherings and bloomings will take place hereafter we have no way of knowing, but we should not be shocked at those of the past, present, or future. Jesus remains the Son of David, and we participate in his mission of proclaiming the Kingdom of God in our own circumstances.


The responsorial psalm — Psalm 92:2-3, 13-14, 15-16 — also uses the tree image. The just one flourishes like a cedar of Lebanon. Jesus, of course, is the just one par excellence. But beyond him, all who are God's people will flourish and proclaim their faith.


Our second reading is part of a series from Second Corinthians — 2 Cor 5:6-10. It reminds that faith is not the same as sight. It is not mathematical certainty; it's a certainty of a different order. Our faith inspires us to try to do what the Lord wants us to do and tells us that after this life God will judge what we have done.


The gospel — Mark 4:26-34 — presents two parables of Jesus about how the Kingdom of God works. The first tells us that it grows without our knowing what causes it. We work, and that is important, as is the farmers work on the crops. But God gives the growth of the kingdom. The reference to the harvest reminds us of the judgment to which Paul alludes in the second reading.

The parable of the mustard seed, with its image of a plant that grows to provide shelter for the birds, calls to mind the reading from Ezekiel. In Ezekiel, God plants his king, and his kingdom comes to provide shelter for many. In Mark, the focus is on the kingdom, with the many who make their home in it.

While the Christian Church and God's Kingdom are not perfectly synonymous, there is a general correspondence. It started small, but can grow to provide a home for all humanity.


We can see several messages for ourselves beyond the basic one that God makes his kingdom grow. Like the birds who dwell in its shelter, we are called to inhabit the Kingdom. Like a farmer who waters and cultivates his fields, we have a responsibility to act in ways that help the Kingdom grow. God will reward the good we do.