We are already in the Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time and this weekend’s Gospel of Mark (4:26-34) provides us with the well-known parable of the mustard seed. What does it mean?
In this parable Jesus says, “To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.”
So what key point is Jesus trying to instill in us about God’s Kingdom? What key characteristic does He want us to understand—and adopt—in our intimation of Him? That the smallest action done in love can produce big and lasting impact (change) in our world, especially when it is done in-and-with-love.
The Kingdom of God is not about power or might. It is not about prestige or wealth, or ownership of items or places. Rather, the Kingdom of God is about Love, another word for Charity, and its ability to transform people into a new way of living. St. Paul, especially in his Letter to the Romans, tells us that the Kingdom of God is about living in the Spirit of God—and living life anew—which brings change not only to our own life but to the lives of those around us. To put
it another way, Saint Mother Teresa was fond of saying that the size or value of the gift is less important than the love with which the gift is wrapped and given. We can all ask ourselves: What motivates what I do and say or what I choose not to do and say?
In our culture today, many “great” things are thought to spring from big actions—lots of money,
lots of effort. But that simply isn’t true—nor is the idea that the end result of something—anything—has to be grand. Why can’t a simple action, a kind word or gesture have great meaning—and impact?
Look at Jesus. He had no mighty military—no navy to sail the oceans, no troops to conquer lands. He had no royal court nor did He have palaces, castles or glorious Temples (human expressions of greatness) to house His retinue. Jesus had no power to raise taxes, no expansive government to organize daily life. And yet He is known and revered as the Savior of the World. No other individual or entity has had a greater impact on mankind. No country or corporation has
had more members. No other person is worshiped or prayed to as is the Christ. What power did He have? Divine Love, comprised of Charity, Compassion, Hope and Truth.
If all that His Church does now to continue His mission and ministry on earth, making the
Kingdom of God present now, is to bring more love into our families, our nation and world, then we have a great deal and the right power. Godly love can bring truth to confusion and ignorance, compassion to heartache, healing to the sick and vulnerable, forgiveness to a broken relationship/life, food to the hungry, and it brings hope to those wondering without direction. And in each act of love, even the smallest—like the mustard seed—greatness can be had.
In the Church’s corporal and spiritual works of mercy we bring God’s love to the food shelters and homeless shelters, we bring His love to the schools were we teach faith and reason, we bring His love to the hospitals and healthcare outreach such as the Knights of Malta—where healing of the body and the soul are equally important; we bring His charity to the care of the vulnerable or those arriving in refugee situations, we bring His love in the Sacramental Life
of the Church when healing of the soul is so important. And we bring His love into the parish where all are called to serve and be Christ to others in need. The Catholic faith, like the mustard seed, is meant to more than one, singular actor. She is meant to be the arms; the heart and the light of Christ to the world. Small acts of caring, wrapped in love, are powerful happenings. That is why the Church, in all her ministries, cannot be devoid of Jesus Christ—a meal in a homeless shelter cannot be had without a prayer of Grace, a Catholic school cannot be simply about academics and sports if we wish to form the human person, a hospital cannot be just about
medical tests and treatments if we forget the soul, and the shelters to heal the abused women or child must attend to body, mind and spirit if we are to help God make life anew. If we forget about faith, about Christ, then we become just another NGO.
Love, for that is what God is, is the power of faith and the gift of hope. It can be small like a
mustard seed and yet so mightily powerful.