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Commentary to the ELEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR B

Fernando Armellini - Sat, Jun 12th 2021

Click here to go to the video COMMENTARY BY FR. FERNANDO ARMELLINI 

Introduction 

We have the impression that we are witnessing a rapid decline in Christian values: we  see man trying to rid himself of the idea of God, placing himself as the absolute point of  reference, as the measure of everything, making himself the arbiter of good and evil,  absolutizing the realities of this world and considering faith an obsolete aspect of life. This  is secularism, a phenomenon that has remote historical roots, but which has reached its  apogee in our time. How come? 

In the search for the causes, there are those who attribute the responsibility to the  priests who, increasingly fearful, avoid recalling those truths that, in the past, when the  churches overflowed with the faithful, were the recurring themes of catechesis: the  judgment of God, the eternal condemnation, the devil, the punishments. 

The truth is another: today we are paying the consequences of an evangelization and a  catechesis that—without wanting to attribute blame to the willing preachers and catechists  of the past—was disconnected from the Word of God. The future is in our hands. The  Church has become aware of the treasure that the Master has given her: the Word, the  seed that waits to be sown in the world in abundance, so that faith may flourish again on a  new basis and on a sure foundation. 

Those who today, with difficulty, are scattering this precious seed in the World, will not  contemplate the ripe ear, but at least the stem, this yes, they can ask the Lord to be able  to see it.

• To internalize the message, we repeat: 

"Only the grain of wheat that disappears into the earth brings forth much fruit." 

 

First Reading: Ezekiel 17:22-24 

Ezekiel uttered this prophecy at a particularly dramatic time in Israel's history:  Jehoiachin, the last scion of David's dynasty, was defeated, taken prisoner, and deported  to Babylon. The national disaster has shaken the faith of many Israelites who wonder how  the Lord, who promised David an eternal dynasty, could allow Jehoiachin to be torn from  the throne of Jerusalem, as a tree is uprooted by the hurricane and carried away by the  rushing waves of a river. Has God failed in the fidelity he has sworn to his chosen one?  Ezekiel, who is among those deported to Babylon, responds to this distressing question  with an image. David's family—he explains—is a luxuriant cedar tree that a brutal and  ruthless woodcutter, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, cut down and tore to pieces. However, God does not deny himself; he never denies his promises. This is what he will  do: he will go to Babylon and, from the devastated cedar of David's dynasty, he will take  the last shoot and transplant it on a high mountain in the land of Israel (v. 22). This fragile  and almost lifeless sucker will grow to become an immense cedar tree under which all the  birds of the sky will dwell (v. 23). 

The promise is astounding. With the image of the birds of the sky, the prophet alludes,  in fact, to none other than the vassal kingdoms of the immense Assyrian empire (Ezk 31:6).  These, he assures, will one day come under the dominion of Israel, and they will all be  subject to it, as in the time of David. 

Ezekiel probably dreamed of a rapid restoration of the Davidic monarchy when he  uttered this prophecy, but the years passed, and his expectations were disappointed. In  this situation, the expectation of a messiah, an offspring of David's family, destined to fully  realize the promises made by the Lord to his people became increasingly apparent.  

In the appointed time, the prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus, the shoot of the great  cedar tree that God planted on the earth. He is the long-awaited descendant of David. The birds that find refreshment in the shade of its branches represent all the peoples previously  subjected to the power of evil that made them slaves. The branches, in turn, could indicate  the welcoming arms of the Christian community. 

This reading is an invitation to trust God, always, but especially when our expectations  seem vain and our hopes dashed. He is the one who is used to "lift up the lowly tree" and  can make the "dry tree sprout" (v. 24). The expressions used by Ezekiel remind us of Mary's  song: "He has put down the mighty from their thrones, he has lifted up the lowly" (Lk 1:52).  Above all, they remind us of the supreme work of God: the resurrection of Christ. From the  tomb where death reigned supreme, he raised life. If he has performed such a miracle, he  will know how to transform every defeat into a victory.  

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:6-10 

In previous  Sundays, we have  already said that Paul, by now advanced in years, was beginning to  feel tired. The sufferings he had endured, the persecutions, the betrayals of friends, the misunderstanding of so many brothers and sisters in the faith had marked him in body and spirit. 

In the first part of today's passage (vv. 6-8), he compares his condition to that of an  exile: in this world, he feels like a stranger, he lives far from his land, with his thoughts  always turned to the homeland that awaits him. He longs to be with God and Christ forever  and knows that he must pass through death to reach this complete and definitive life, but  this thought does not frighten him. 

In the second part (v. 9), he realizes that his desire to leave this world could be  understood as an escape from the difficulties, sufferings, and responsibilities of Christian  communities born from his preaching. So—he concludes—as long as the Lord wants to  leave me in this body, I will give the best of myself. 

In the last verse (v. 10), he recalls, using the traditional image of God's judgment, the  value and decisive importance of life in this world. The future life will not be born from  nothing; it will sprout from what each person will have sown in this life. The Lord will reject  no one, but the ability to accept his infinite love will be different for everyone and will  depend on the best or worst "gestation" lived in this world.  

Gospel: Mark 4:26-34 

Can the growth of the kingdom of God be accelerated? Jesus answers this question  with a brief parable, a little gem, preserved to us only by Mark, which makes up the first  part of today's Gospel (vv. 26-29). It is divided into three parts of different sizes, which correspond to the three moments in which agricultural work takes place: the sowing (v. 26), the growth of the  seed (vv. 27-28), the reaping (v. 29). The first and third, that is, those in which the work of the farmer is described, are reduced to a minimum: "He sows the seed in the earth" (v. 26) and "puts his hand to the sickle" (v. 29), nothing else. 

Much more developed is the central one that occupies two-thirds of the parable. The narrator wants to draw attention to the time of growth; for this reason, with a certain forcefulness, not only does he avoid emphasizing the work of the farmer, but  he deliberately ignores activities that the latter usually carry out, even after sowing:  protection, cleaning, irrigation of the fields. Jesus wants to emphasize only one thing: the  irresistible power of the seed that, once cast into the earth, grows by itself. 

From the first part of the parable (v. 26), we note a detail: the evangelist does not use  the technical term sow but tells of a man who sows the seed, making the broad gesture of  the farmer's arms almost perceptible as he joyfully and unsparingly scatters the precious  grains everywhere. This is how the Gospel message must be spread, in profusion, and it  must be launched into the earth, not in a defined and restricted field, but everywhere, in  the whole world. This is an invitation to overcome any exclusivism; no people can consider  God's blessings reserved for themselves. 

After the sowing season comes the moment when man's work ceases (vv. 27-28), days  and nights follow one another, and the farmer sleeps and watches without being able to  intervene in the growth. It is useless for him to get busy, get restless, or worry; the process  underway now no longer depends on him; if he gets restless, if he enters the field, he only  causes trouble, he tramples and damages the tender shoots. All he must do is wait. In fact,  in silence and almost imperceptibly, the miracle begins, the seed sprouts from the earth. 

The description of the growth is accurate: first, the green and tender stem appear, then  the ear, and finally, the ripe grain. A development that leaves one astonished and  enchanted, but that cannot be forced; it requires time and patience. The assimilation of the  Gospel message is not immediate; the work of a person's inner transformation requires  days and years. However, once it has penetrated the heart, the word of Christ sets in  motion an unstoppable dynamism, even if slow. Those who have heard it never remain the  same.  

One of the most common temptations to the apostles of the Gospel is discouragement.  They often become despondent if they do not immediately notice some concrete results of  their preaching. The message of the parable is addressed primarily  to them. If they are confident that they have proclaimed the  authentic message of Christ, if they have not confused it with the  wisdom of this world, if they have not weakened its disruptive force  by adding a pinch of human common sense, they must cultivate the  intimate certainty that the fruits will be plentiful. 

The season and the abundance of the harvest do not depend on them but on the soil, more or less fertile, in which the seed of the  word has fallen. A model preacher is Paul, who declared to the  Corinthians, "I planted, Apollos watered, but it is God who made it  grow" (1 Cor 3:6). The process of maturation must be respected. 

Those who want to accelerate it run the risk of letting themselves be caught up in a frenzy;  they convince themselves that they can substitute their action for that of the Spirit and, if  they intervene, they quickly lose control and even resort to unfair methods, they use  coercion, they do not respect freedom, they use psychological blackmail. Since the time of  St. Augustine, those who have come to justify the use of  the sword to force conversion are proof of what aberrations the lack of respect for the time required for the growth of the seed leads to.  

The parable challenges everyone: parents, educators, and those in charge of the Christian community who, although animated by the best of intentions, sometimes allow themselves to be taken by impatience, haste, and efficiency,  with the sole result of appearing irritating.  

Much of the recommendations of teachers of the spiritual life consist of pressing  invitations to commitment, to tireless activity, to feverish work. Today's Gospel recalls  another aspect, equally important. There are times when it is necessary to "sleep," that is,  to know how to wait, to keep calm, and to sit and contemplate in amazement the seed that  sprouts and grows by itself. The fruits will undoubtedly go beyond all expectations.  Whoever is not convinced of this does not have faith in the prodigious power of Christ's  word.  

The second parable (vv. 30-32) is also taken from life experience in the fields. Every  day the farmer sees tiny seeds disappearing into the earth and being reborn to become  stems, shrubs, and even large trees. This astonishing contrast between the smallness of the  beginnings and the greatness of the results is what Jesus intends to highlight with the  parable of the mustard seed, which, according to popular opinion, was the smallest of all  seeds. The wonder came from the observation that, from an almost invisible grain, a shrub  sprouted and grew, in a single season, that even today along the shores of the Lake of  Galilee can reach three meters in height. 

With this parable, Jesus did not intend to make prophecies about the future triumphs  of the Church, which, born of a few poor fishermen, would become a solid, influential  institution, capable of inspiring fear and respect even in the holders of political power. The  development of the kingdom of God cannot be assessed with statistics because, as Luke  relates, it cannot be seen or quantified; it is found in the depths of every person (Lk 17:21).  

The seed of the kingdom of God always remains small and without the glory of this  world; the effects it produces, however, exceed all expectations and, in the parable, are  presented through images taken from the Old Testament. The luxuriant growth of the tree  evokes the vitality of life, the fullness of success. Ezekiel compares Assyria, which had  reached the height of its power, to a "cedar of Lebanon, beautiful in branches, thick in  foliage, tall in the trunk; its top was in the clouds.  

It had surpassed in height all the trees of the fields" (Ezk 31:3-5). The shadow that defends against the sun's burning rays is a metaphor for the protection offered by the kingdom of God to those who enter it (Ps 91:1). 

The image of nesting birds is also frequently found in the Old Testament (Ezk 31:6); it depicts those who, having put their complete trust in God's word, build their nests in the house of the Lord (Ps 84:4), that is, they set up their lives in harmony with Gospel values. They will  experience bliss, peace, and fullness of love, in the shelter of the shadow offered by  the Most High (Ps 91:1). 

The parable is an invitation to consider reality with God's eyes. People value what is great and what appears; they judge the successes and failures of people according to the money they have accumulated, the position of power they have attained, their honorary titles, prestige, and notoriety. Jesus overturned the scale of values:  

"Whoever becomes small will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 18:4). Only the one who has made himself as small as a mustard seed will become "like a tree planted by the streams of  water, which will bear fruit in its season and its leaves will never fall" (Ps 1:3).  The parable is meant to instill joy and optimism. One day it will appear to all the  wonders worked by God through those who, like his Son, became humble and meek  servants of all. 

Of the entire Christian message, this is undoubtedly the most challenging part to  assimilate, so it is not surprising that not everyone can understand it. For most, it remains  an unresolved enigma, not because they do not understand its meaning, but because it is  humanly absurd and inconceivable that by making oneself small, one can appear great  before God. 

The passage ends with a note by the evangelist: "In private, Jesus explained everything  to his disciples" (v. 34). Reflection, silence, and prayer are necessary; time must be  dedicated to dialogue with Christ; a suitable spiritual climate must be created if we are to  receive, from the Spirit, the light necessary to assimilate and translate into life choices the  message of this parable.

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