HOMILY/SERMON OF 11TH WEEK SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME – YEAR B
HOMILY THEME: BE PATIENT, NEVER GIVE UP THE STRUGGLE!
BY: Fr. Augustine Ikechukwu Opara
Ezekiel 17:22-24; 2 Corinthians 5:6-10; Mark 4:26-34
Today is another Sunday of divine encouragement when God speaks to us to strengthen our faith struggle so that we don’t get discouraged when we think our faith and life’s struggles are not yielding immediate gigantic returns. We are reminded that, as part of God’s kingdom, the Church is like a tree planted by God from the smallest of all seeds, she becomes the noblest of trees and fills the earth. She is the physical evidence of God’s kingdom. So, like the birds of the air, we are called to make our home in her.
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The journey to this kingdom is a journey that must be approached with faith and courage. It is natural for us humans to expect immediate returns on investments. Priests expect immediate conversion of their listeners, and Parents expect change from their wayward children. Teachers may not be patient with slow learners. These are all human expectations that often hurt. People get discouraged or quit when there is no visible impact of what they are doing. Many of us, have taken to the worldly philosophy of ‘get it fast today, tomorrow may be late. We might not be able to do great things. But we know God can bring our acts of communion and solidarity to fulfillment just as he causes the mustard seed to grow and bear fruit.
We hear a hopeful message from the prophet Ezekiel who ministered during a very tumultuous time in Israel’s history. The golden era of David and Solomon was over. Israel became a house divided and a pawn for much more powerful kingdoms such as Babylon, Egypt, and Persia. They experienced shocking violence, war, invasion, and occupation. Their faith was tested to the extreme limits. Yet, amid this prolonged despair, the prophet instilled in them a message of hope. He uses the metaphor of a small shoot which is similar to Isaiah’s image of the stump of Jesse, to describe the revitalization of Israel.
We are living in a time of diminishment as far as the church’s size and influence are concerned. But if the kingdom is like a mustard seed, then the size of our institutional church is not as important as the quality of our witness. In a world of changing values and a crisis of trust, we must adhere to the constant message of faith, hope, and love for all. And as long as we embody that vision of the Church in our practice, we become a lighthouse for the world.
When the brain is starved of Oxygen a person faints, when the body is starved of water a person becomes dehydrated, and when the organs are starved of blood the person dies, so it is with man when he is starved of the word of God, he atrophies. If there is anything that nurtures the life of God in us, it is God’s word. We die spiritually when we ignore, pay deaf ears, or avoid living by God’s word and living by our own standards. In the word of God and of course, in the sacraments, we discover what God’s will consists of.
Today’s episode reinforces the notion that there is something fundamentally counter-cultural about Jesus and what he stood for. The kingdom, for instance, does not manifest itself in size, success, and power. Instead, it is found in the smallness of the mustard seed, in the poverty of the widow’s mite, and in the insignificance of the yeast. These images essentially challenge the prevalent attitude about greatness, success, and power. Jesus teaches something quite radical through these parables. He teaches that God’s Kingdom though with a humble beginning, will reach its fulfilment in a way that defies human expectations.
So, my brothers and sisters, we must learn not to lose hope in the face of adversity and to live the fallow time deeply and humbly. This means that God wishes to transfer his people to the kingdom that Christ reigns as king and, as the fountain of life. This is the kingdom where God wants us to be. The church is the visible sign of this noble cedar or kingdom that gives refuge to all people.
Happy celebration to our beloved fathers!
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