Mk.4:26-34
One of our past pupils lost his father due to COVID during this week. It was an unexpected demise, and family members were heartbroken. When we received the obituary news, two of my friends, who were close to this newly ordained priest, wanted to visit them. However, we had doubts whether they would be able to reach there for the funeral or would they be able to participate due to COVID protocol etc. So I asked them that whether they wanted to travel at this juncture. Their response was an eye-opener for me. They said that they did not intend to attend the funeral. We can offer prayers for the diseased person from any place. Our physical presence is not necessary for that. However, they wanted to be with that bereaved family in these moments of their sorrow and loss. It is easy to sympathise with others through our words; nevertheless, can we become a nurturing and sheltering presence like Christ?
In today’s gospel, Jesus presents the analogy of the mustard seed to speak about the growth of the Kingdom of God. The mustard seed is very tiny in its stature, but it becomes the biggest of all shrubs, giving shelter for various organisms once it grows. We need to understand the growth and impact of the kingdom of God from this perspective. Wherever a follower of Christ is there, the kingdom of God is also there. The Kingdom of God is not a reality outside; instead, it is an interiority based on gospel values that we need to create within. We can experience its impact concretely in our life situations.
We need not analyse the kingdom’s growth based on the infrastructure and property that we possess; instead, it should be based on the kingdom values that we inherit and our efforts to live these values in our day-to-day lives. So we see in this parable when the mustard seed becomes a shrub, giving shelter to many other organisms. Similarly, the kingdom of God should be realised in our person. So when I start to practise kingdom values, I would expand my horizon to that of Christ and care and nurture others just like He watched the last, least and lost of society.
In the gospel passage, we see Jesus did not explain the message of these parables to all but only to his close followers. It was a privilege and great responsibility for them. Those who are called to follow him closely today, each of us, have the same obligation because we know the message of these parables. Therefore, we should be responsible for living the kingdom values of compassion and kindness with our needy brethren.
We read the words of Jesus in the gospel of John: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.”(Jn. 13:34-35). When we live the gospel of love through our way of life though we might be the minority, our broken words will be a grand proclamation, and our little deeds will be means of transformation of the entire social structures. Therefore, let us live the kingdom values wholeheartedly and be a nurturing and sheltering presence like Christ…