January 30, 2015 Friday, 3rd Week in Ordinary Time 1st Reading: Heb 10:32-39 Gospel: Mk
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.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience)
Drawing from his listeners’ farming experience Jesus compared the kingdom to the sprouting of seeds. Just as a farmer loses control over the seeds he has committed to the ground, so is the establishment of the kingdom of God beyond human control. This teaching revived in the Jews the longing for political stability so that they would no longer be a colonized nation. Earlier they had clamored for a human king despite their ancestors’ experience of the power of God leading them out of Egypt. God had given in to their clamor and instructed a prophet to anoint a king from among them.But as God had predicted through Samuel, these kings became unfaithful and began to act like gods. The result was disastrous because left to themselves they failed to protect God’s people from the enemies.
This bitter experience with human kings deepened their desire to take God as their only king. Jesus’ message by way of the parable of the seed was truly good news to them because it emphasized on the kingdom’s establishment independent of human strength.But Jesus hastened to add that this implied the abandonment of self-centeredness so that God can take full control. “Repent,” Jesus said to them, “for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand”(Matthew 4:17).
Today’s Gospel message directs our attention to the kingdom of God in our midst. The kingdom of God is among us offering us true deliverance through the sacraments. By these sacraments we are no longer nourished by manna in the desert but by the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist. But to receive this deliverance and live as free citizens of this kingdom, we have to abandon our selfish ways and enthrone God as our only king.- Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email:dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website:www.frdan.org.
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