Friday,
January 31, 2020
3rd Week in
Ordinary Time
1st Reading: 2Sam 11:1-4a, 5-10a, 13-17
Gospel: Mark 4:26-34
JESUS also said, “In the kingdom of God it is like this. A man scatters seed upon the soil. Whether he is asleep or awake, be it day or night, the seed sprouts and grows, he knows not how. The soil produces of itself; first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when it is ripe for harvesting they take the sickle for the cutting: the time for harvest has come.”
Jesus also said, “What is the kingdom of God like? To what shall we compare it? It is like a mustard seed which, when sown, is the smallest of all the seeds scattered upon the soil. But once sown, it grows up and becomes the largest of the plants in the garden and even grows branches so big that the birds of the air can take shelter in its shade.”
Jesus used many such stories or parables, to proclaim the word to them in a way they would be able to understand. He would not teach them without parables; but privately to his disciples he explained everything.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
The way Jesus describes the kingdom gives us an idea how much time is needed to put it up. Like the sprouting of seeds, the germination of the kingdom could take time. Actually God can put it up in three days (John 2:19). But he wants us to build it ourselves. Until we are ready to tuck our sleeves up and build it, the kingdom of God won’t rise in our midst. If God were to make it rise without us growing with it, the kingdom will just be one of those kingdoms in fairy tales.
In a sense we can become stumbling blocks to the kingdom despite our marching order to build it in the present. The other word for stumbling block as used by Jesus on Peter is “Satan” (Matthew 16:23). We must realize that while God has all the time to wait until we are ready to build it, we don’t have much time to squander because life is short. So let us stop playing the role of Satan now. Scripture says that our life is seventy or eighty for those who are strong. This does not even translate to a maximum of 80 years longevity because the Scripture passage is symbolic. The American Expectancy Table of Mortality (AETM) would like to imagine that life indeed is supposed to endure for 80 years. Nonetheless AETM admits that life is always subject to the untimely intervention of death. Hence, AETM’s formula of life expectancy is 2/3 x 80 years – age of death. The establishment of God’s kingdom takes time because it considers our slow process of growth. We can have that kingdom tomorrow if we all repent today. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., J.D., D.M.
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