REFLECTION/HOMILY OF 11TH WEEK SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME – YEAR B
HOMILY THEME: A CALL TO NURTURE THE SEED OF FAITH
BY: Fr. Jude Nnadi
Ezekiel 17:22-24; 2 Corinthians 5:6-10; Mark 4:26-34
Sisters and brothers, in those days prophet Ezekiel addressed those unexpected words of hope to the people in our first reading, David’s descendants seemed like a tree cutdown and destined for destruction. The people exiled in Babylon no longer have their own land, temple or hope for the future. Nothing remains of Israel’s glorious history but darkness and painful memory of those promises the Almighty inspired through their liberation from Egypt. In this very sad historical passage, it is the Lord himself who imprints his visionary capacity on the voice of the prophet, to remind the people that “through their dark night”, consolation and light would come. The task of prophecy is to read every historical moment in the light of God’s faithfulness, putting leaves and fruit back on the branches of withered trees, even when sterility would seem to be the only inevitable destiny.
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In the gospel, the Lord Jesus draws words from this very imagery used by our prophet to explain the paradoxical logic of the kingdom of God, which proposes rather than imposes itself. The Master looks and carefully observes the steps with which the seed evolves until it transforms into a tree. In the same manner, the Lord observes the growth of his kingdom within us, an act of pure grace. The life of God we receive as gift in baptism matures according to its internal logic, which escapes our understanding.
In that gospel we see the logic of a Christ who reigns and governs history on the throne of the cross and the fact of the empty tomb. It is truly a tiny seed planted in the heart of the earth and history; yet all we need to face every step of life with confidence in this exile until the coast is clear and grace precedes every effort, the journey can no longer generate any anguish, but peace, serenity and joy of union with the One who truly love us. His grace is all we need in this dark night of faith!
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