14 June 2015
Homily of the Apostolic Nuncio
His Grace Archbishop Petar Rajič
Ez 17:22-24; 2 Cor 5:6-10; Mk 4:26-34
While Jesus was on earth in the body, he taught his disciples many things regarding the reign of God and how it will develop and flourish even without our knowing how it happens, because God gives and sustains its growth, as the Gospel of Mark mentions today.
Twice in this passage Jesus says: The kingdom of God is like… thereby comparing the eternal reality of God with the limited realities of nature in this world that we know. The first example is when a man casts seed into the ground and hopes for a good harvest. He watches the growth process, waiting for the maturation and harvest time to come in order to reap the fruit of his labour. The Kingdom of God also quietly and slowly grows within us. The Lord is the one who irrigates its growth through his grace and the power of the Holy Spirit that allows it to grow and bring forth abundant fruits.
In the second example, Jesus takes a tiny mustard seed that is planted in the ground which grows into a large shrub. This change is a miracle of nature for every seed gives birth to something new and beautiful, useful for mankind and for life in general. The Kingdom of God is given to us and is developing in us for our good and not for our destruction. The seed that is sown in us is God’s word, which gives the beginnings of a new life, enlightens the mind and enables us to do works of mercy. We cannot always notice what God is doing, but we believe that God’s plan is being fulfilled in us and through us in the world we live in, according to the measure of our faithfulness and patience.
Like all parables, the mustard seed continues to speak to the Church, reminding us that the reign of God is already present here through the Holy Spirit, but not yet finalized. It will one day be definitively and universally realized in every believing heart and acclaimed by every faithful voice. This is because it is God’s reign and God, who calls all things into being, gives growth and brings it to fulfilment. This is why we pray with faith and great expectation in the Our Father: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
