SUNDAY OF THE 11TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

13th June 2021

Ezekiel 17:22-24.

Ps. 92:1-2.12-13.14-15

2 Corinthians 5:6-10

Gospel: Mk 4:26-34.

THE GROWTH OF CHRISTIAN FAITH

For the people to understand you better, you must speak in their language and identify yourself in their culture. Today Jesus is giving us two parables related to farming. These were the images men and women of Israel could relate to, since most of them were farmers. He taught them what they did not know, from what they knew. He wanted to teach them about the kingdom of God. What is the kingdom of God? It is Jesus himself. The essential location of the Kingdom is our soul. God want to live and grow inside us.

From our own experience of farming, we get to know that, without proper care and attention, the seedling will fade away. With proper care, the reward is abundant. So too is our faith. Our faith starts as a tiny idea, a concept we are taught as children or may be adults. Just like plants, our faith need to be natured otherwise it will fade away. How do we nature our tiny seed of faith into a beautiful, life sustaining plantlike that leads to the father?

1. Caring choice - just as we chose our friends, jobs and priorities, our walk with God is a choice. We chose to make an effort to know and nurture our relationship with Him. No one can force us we must take the first step to put the seed received in the soil. How much do you get to know God?

2.Be committed- a relationship can’t grow without commitment. You need to give your time and effort. You need to be committed to be in touch with God through prayers, scriptures and mass. Thank him, praise him, reconcile with him and ask him to help you in whatever you need. You need to cooperate with God and others in making the kingdom grow.

3. Water your faith –water sustains life. How do you water your faith? You need to listen to God. He speaks in the scriptures, actions of other people and directly to your heart.

4. Sunshine –sunshine gives warmth. How do we add sunshine to our journey of faith? The sunlight represents the positive influences we choose. We need to choose Christians who have positive minds, those who can strengthen your stem and deepen the roots of your faith. They can be found in Small Christian communities, bible groups etc.

5. Weed – don’t let you faith to be chocked by dark forces and negative influences. The weeds are everywhere and you have to work hard to uproot them. The weed could be your fellow Christians who are always not walking in the light, it could be your lack of commitment in liturgical activities, it could be your evil deeds etc. You need the discernment to know them. Help them to be in light again if possible.

6. Feed – your faith need the nourishment. You can feed your faith through daily mass, prayers, charity and devotions. Make prayer your habit. Even though our daily schedules are hectic, we must reserve some time to be with the lord in prayer.

7. We need to patiently correspond to his grace -Faith grows slowly. If we are patient, His divine life will definitely grow in our souls just the way the seed grows in the field. Let us not get discouraged. Before we know it, our tiny seed of faith will have grown to be the shelter for others.

At last, we have no doubt that the kingdom of God has already begun to grow especially in our own self. Are we practicing already the love, compassion, forgiveness and reconciliation which Christ the king brought to us? As a disciple, do you help others grow in faith? If you answer is yes, you are not far from the kingdom of God. Let us pray that our faith will continue growing.

Amen.