Seed Grows of Itself

Today's Reflections   
 

                       

 

 Seed Grows of Itself 

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Mk 4:26-34

²⁶[Jesus] said, “This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land ²⁷and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. ²⁸Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. ²⁹And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.”

³⁰He said, “To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? ³¹It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. ³²But 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.” ³³With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it. ³⁴Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.

The seed would sprout and grow. The action of the scattered seed, in the parable of the Gospel, is the work of the kingdom of God. It is inevitable; it is not caused by humans even if humans are called to cooperate, to scatter the seeds. God’s action will bear fruit even if the process appears silent and still on the surface. And we will be amazed at the greatness of the action because we cannot imagine that, from a tiny seed, a tree will grow and will be the largest of all plants. In the end, God’s righteousness and will to bring us home will be fulfilled.

God’s ways are not our ways (cf Is 55:8). The First Reading describes David’s dangerous liaison with Bathsheba and his cover-up of the sin of adultery. David recalls Bathsheba’s husband Uriah from the battlefront to be with her. But Uriah sleeps at the entrance of the royal palace, not with his wife. Then David treats him to supper the next night, but still Uriah does not go home. David finally asks Joab to send Uriah to the frontline. And so Uriah the Hittite is killed.

David directs every step. But with the death of Uriah, David’s sin will be revealed, as the story continues. In the end, God’s justice will triumph. This is what David cannot prevent.

Recall your discouragement

at people’s seeming indifference.