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Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Mk: 4:26-34 |
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| Background: The "coming of the kingdom" of which Jesus is talking so much is something that was widely expected by Jews of his age. But Jesus changed the meaning because he saw the kingdom not as a restoration of the political power of Israel but as the revelation to all the nations of God’s passionately merciful love. This change in the meaning was what got him into trouble. The triumph of God’s love is as certain as the harvest once the seeds are planted and will be as impressive as the large plant which grows from the small seed. God’s love will sweep all before it. The triumph hasn’t happened yet, because so many of us do not take seriously what Jesus says and lose our nerve. We worry more about internal church arguments and rules then we do about proclaiming the power of God’s love in our personal lives. We will be more likely to do that when we understand that God’s love is all around us, encompassing us in His kingdom. |
read the padre |
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Story: Once upon a time a family set out at the beginning of the summer to build an addition on a tiny house they had in the country. They were not, to tell the truth, all that skillful as work persons. But they had seen programs on PBS about how to build your own home and they figured they could do it just as well as anyone else, a mistaken assumption. At least they had an engineer they knew take a look at their plans and at their structure as it went up. They began on the first weekend in June. They figured they’d have the addition all done by the beginning of August. WELL, the weather in June was terrible. The windows were late, as was the wood for the floors, the electric heaters, and the drains for the roof. People would walk by their house and laugh at the hollow walls. However by the middle of August they had everything pretty much ready. Then came the storm of the half century. It blew off the roof, smashed all the windows, and knocked down the wall. Let’s give it up they all said. But the youngest child said, no. Let’s finish it this year, so we can enjoy it next year. And build it stronger so it will last a couple of half centuries. You know what? They did. It was a nice autumn. The house was finished by Thanksgiving and the next year they loved it. |
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