28 January 2022 Mark 4:26-34
Friday of the 3rd Week in Ordinary Time
SPONTANEOUS EXPANSION
“This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head (Mark 4:26-28).
Every seed has an inner dynamism to grow by itself. Farmers can select, plant it in the right conditions, irrigate and apply fertilizers. But farmers can think only with wonder at the mysterious force behind the growth of the seed into a plant or tree. The growth of a seed into a plant is basically the hands of God! The same way growth and expansion of the Kingdom of God (God’s reign) is basically the work of God, not the work of our knowledge or skills. We are only participants/instruments with God in its growth and expansion.
It is said that in the first month of his pontificate Pope John XXIII could not sleep because of problems that existed in the church. On a certain night he listened to some inspirational words in a dream which sounded, “John, don’t take yourself too seriously! You must remember I am still the head of the church, not you”. He was able to sleep quietly afterwards. Yes, the preservation and expansion of the church is primarily the work of the Holy Spirit and the Pope and other church leaders are only instruments. The growth of your child is primarily the work of God and you are only instruments! Amen.