From: Mark 4:26-34

Parables of the Seed and of the Mustard Seed

[26] And He (Jesus) said, “The Kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter
seed upon the ground, [27] and should sleep and rise night and day, and the
seed should sprout and grow, he knows not how. [28] The earth produces of it-
self, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. [29] But when the
grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest is come.”

[30] And He said, “With what can we compare the Kingdom of God, or what para-
ble shall we use for it? [31] It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown
upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; [32] yet when it is sown
it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches,
so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

The End of the Parables Discourse

[33] With many such parables He spoke the word to them, as they were able to
hear it; [34] He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to His own
disciples He explained everything.

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Commentary:

26-29. Farmers spare no effort to prepare the ground for the sowing; but once the
grain is sown there is nothing more they can do until the harvest; the grain deve-
lops by itself. Our Lord uses this comparison to describe the inner strength that
causes the Kingdom of God on earth to grow up to the day of harvest (cf. Joel 3:
13 and Revelation 14:15), that is, the day of the Last Judgment.

Jesus is telling His disciples about the Church: the preaching of the Gospel, the
generously sown seed, will unfailingly yield its fruit, independently of who sows or
who reaps: it is God who gives the growth (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:5-9). It will all hap-
pen “he knows not how”, without men being fully aware of it.

The Kingdom of God also refers to the action of grace in each soul: God silently
works a transformation in us, whether we sleep or watch, causing resolutions to
take shape in our soul—resolutions to be faithful, to surrender ourselves, to res-
pond to grace—until we reach “mature manhood” (cf. Ephesians 4:13). Even
though it is necessary for man to make this effort, the real initiative lies with God,
“because it is the Holy Spirit who, with His inspirations, gives a supernatural tone
to our thoughts, desires and actions. It is He who leads us to receive Christ’s tea-
ching and to assimilate it in a profound way. It is He who gives us the light by
which we perceive our personal calling and the strength to carry out all that God
expects of us. If we are docile to the Holy Spirit, the image of Christ will be found
more and more fully in us, and we will be brought closer every day to God the
Father. ‘For whoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the children of God’
(Romans 8:14)” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 135).

30-32. The main meaning of this parable has to do with the contrast between the
great and the small. The seed of the Kingdom of God on earth is something very
tiny to begin with (Luke 12:32; Acts 1:15); but it will grow to be a big tree. Thus
we see how the small initial group of disciples grows in the early years of the
Church (cf Acts 2:47; 6:7; 12:24), and spreads down the centuries and becomes
a great multitude “which no man could number” (Revelation 7:9). This mysterious
growth which our Lord refers to also occurs in each soul: “the Kingdom of God is
in the midst of you” (Luke 17:21); we can see a prediction of this in the words of
Psalm 92:12: “The righteous grow like a cedar in Lebanon.” To allow the mercy
of God to exalt us, to make us grow, we must make ourselves small, humble
(Ezekiel 17:22-24; Luke 18:9-14).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Readings at Mass

First reading

2 Samuel 11:1-4,5-10,13-17 ©

At the turn of the year, the time when kings go campaigning, David sent Joab and with him his own guards and the whole of Israel. They massacred the Ammonites and laid siege to Rabbah. David, however, remained in Jerusalem.

It happened towards evening when David had risen from his couch and was strolling on the palace roof, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful. David made inquiries about this.woman and was told, ‘Why, that is Bathsheba, Eliam’s daughter, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.’ Then David sent messengers and had her brought. She came to him, and he slept with her. She then went home again. The woman conceived and sent word to David; ‘I am with child.’

Then David sent Joab a message, ‘Send me Uriah the Hittite’, whereupon Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah came into his presence, David asked after Joab and the army and how the war was going. David then said to Uriah, ‘Go down to your house and enjoy yourself. Uriah left the palace, and was followed by a present from the king’s table. Uriah however slept by the palace door with his master’s bodyguard and did not go down to his house.

This was reported to David; ‘Uriah’ they said ‘did not go down to his house.’ The next day David invited him to eat and drink in his presence and made him drunk. In the evening Uriah went out and lay on his couch with his master’s bodyguard, but he did not go down to his house.

Next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by Uriah. In the letter he wrote, ‘Station Uriah in the thick of the fight and then fall back behind him so that he may be struck down and die.’ Joab, then besieging the town, posted Uriah in a place where he knew there were fierce fighters. The men of the town sallied out and engaged Joab; the army suffered casualties, including some of David’s bodyguard; and Uriah the Hittite was killed too.

Psalm

Psalm 50:3-7,10-11 ©