13th Sunday of Ordinary Time (B)

 

Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (B) [Mk 5:21-43]

30.06.2024

Raising of Jairus’ Daughter and Healing of Woman with Haemorrhage

Readings: (1) Wis 1:13-15;2:23-24 (2) 2 Cor 8:7.9.13-15

1.    Theme in brief

Jesus is our divine Life-Giver who raises us up from death-like situations

2.    Focus Statement:   

Jesus is our Life-giver who raises us up from death-like situations if only we place our total trust in his power to heal us, save us and restore us to fullness and wholeness of life.

3.    Explanation of the text

In today’s gospel text, in the middle of his main story about raising of a teenage girl from death to life, Mark sandwiches the story about healing of a chronic condition of haemorrhage suffered by a woman for twelve years (5:25-34). The teenage girl was the daughter of a leader (probably the President) of synagogue, named Jairus (5:22). He was an influential and respected man in the community. When his “little daughter” was at the point of death (5:23), he must have swallowed his pride, prejudices and higher position in society to humbly fall at the feet of Jesus – a layman and a heretic in the eyes of his Jewish society – and beg him repeatedly to heal her (5:22-23). He requests Jesus to go to his house and “lay his hands on her” – a common gesture of healing – so that his daughter may gain health and may live (5:23), indicating Jesus’ role as the Life-giver of hopeless cases.

In the sandwiched story, Mark tells us that the condition of the unnamed woman was becoming worse and worse in spite of consulting several physicians and spending all her earnings on them (5:26). When she heard healing stories about Jesus, she went behind him with faith and hope that even a touch of his cloak would heal her (5:27).  As she did it, she experienced in her body that the flow of blood had stopped (5:30). She doubly suffered not only due to this physical ailment, but also because of ritual impurity rendered by such illness as per the prescriptions of OT (Lev 15:25–27). She decided to touch Jesus’ clothes secretly due to embarrassment of letting her disease known to others and also due to the fear of making Jesus ritually impure by her touch (5:27-28). Expecting a severe rebuke from Jesus for making him ‘unclean’ by her touch she fell at his feet with fear and trembling and told the whole truth (5:33). Jesus said that her faith had healed her, or as per another meaning of the same Greek word, her faith had saved her, that is, brought the gift of salvation/liberation to her (5:34). Thus, we are told that  devout and persistent faith not only brings about physical healing but also spiritual salvation and wholeness.

As Mark continues his main story about the daughter of Jairus (5:35-43), he highlights the mental agony of her father when the news came from his house about her untimely death (5:35), just because of the Lord’s delay in attending to him. These news-givers said the situation was hopeless as his daughter was already dead and it was pointless to trouble  the Teacher any further (5:35). Just imagine what would have been the feelings of Jairus! All his hopes of getting a gift of healing from the Divine Healer for his dear daughter were shattered. Jesus told him not to fear but only to believe (5:16). Lack of deep faith is often the cause of fear when people face serious trials and tragedies such as the death of a dear one. Fear can lead to a loss of trust in God. Jesus must have told Jairus not to allow his fear and anxiety to rule over him but go on trusting in him even if the matter had become hopeless.

Mark draws the attention of his readers to the exact age of the girl who was dead, that is, twelve years (5:42), probably to tell them about the tragedy that struck her and her family when she was just crossing over from childhood to womanhood. Her life got ruptured suddenly when it was just beginning to bloom as she was on the threshold of adulthood. And the Divine Life-giver restored her life with his divine touch as he lifted her up with his hand by calling her affectionately, “little girl” and ordering her to “get up” or “rise up” (5:41). Biblical scholars tell us that the same word “to rise up” is used in Greek to refer to Jesus’ resurrection, indicating his role to raise us up from death to life. It was the day of salvation from death for both of them (Jairus and his daughter). At the end Mark notes down the human and compassionate side of Jesus when he requests them to give her something to eat since she was now a living being (5:43).

4.    Application to life                     

Today’s gospel is about the preciousness of life and the tragedy of death. It is about the role of Jesus as the Life-giver who came to deliver us from death and give us life so that we may live it in the fullest sense. Both the miracles found in this gospel signify Jesus’ authority over sickness and victory over death attained by his resurrection. They also tell us that the healing power of Jesus becomes operative to those who put their total trust in him even in such hopeless situations as chronic and incurable illnesses/ calamities as well as death. Let us take lessons from these messages:

1) Jesus is the life-giver for those who are spiritually dead. St. Paul describes spiritual death as being alienated or separated from the life of God (Eph 4:18) or a lack God’s life in us. We should understand that serious sins cause a spiritual death – a separation or alienation from God’s love or the death of divine life in us. Today’s gospel invites us to put our faith and trust in Jesus’ power over life and death and face the daily struggle of putting to death (destroying) our sins and selfishness so that we may live a resurrected life of holiness and grace. It also fills us with the hope of winning a victory over eternal death – merited for us by Christ’s resurrection – through our faith in his promises that he will not allow us to die eternally but raise us up to eternal glory. 

2) Jesus has power to heal and restore fullness of life to those who are either dying or are facing death-like situations. He does this by his touch, if only they put their faith and trust in him. We can observe the forces of death already working in those who do not want to live due to desperation and depression caused by suffering and personal tragedy; those who are so much bitter and spit venom due to deep hurts caused to them; those who cannot see or find love anywhere; and those who are alienated from family/ community/ society due to the feelings of injustice done or ill-treatment given to them. Jesus tells this type of people, “Do not fear, only believe.” We are invited to go on trusting him so that he can give us life in its fullness. Instead of getting overwhelmed by fear, he invites us to trust in God who brings life even in situations that are dead.

In spite of some contrasts in the two miracles of today’s text, look at the similarities or common elements in both the stories: both Jairus and the woman were utterly desperate and in great despair; both had genuine faith in Jesus’ power to heal and restore life; and in both cases the afflicted persons were transformed from death or death-like situation to life. That little girl and the woman are you and I. In a way all of us are confronted with the forces of death. Jesus restores life to us, when we touch him (like the woman) and allow ourselves to be touched by him (as he did to the deceased girl). When we approach him with unwavering trust like Jairus and the woman, Jesus touches us, lifts us up with his hand and says: “Rise up from ‘death’” (or death-like situation).

3) A deep faith has the power to heal and save us from the controlling power/ dominion of fear and desperation. It enables us to discover hope even in hopeless situations. Both Jairus and that woman were facing hopeless situations: the woman's disease had no cure and Jairus' daughter was already dead. When we consider that woman’s many disappointments with the physicians and the poverty it brought her, we wonder how she endured her misery for twelve years. Besides, there was one added burden: according to the Law, she was ceremonially unclean, which greatly restricted both her religious and social life. What a heavy burden she carried! Her faith led her to almost steal a cure from Jesus secretly by touching his clothes without his knowledge. In times of chronic and incurable illnesses what a burden of desperation so many sick persons in our world or homes (including us at times) carry! We can find a Jairus in us when we lose hope at unexpected and tragic events in our life, when even God seems to delay in answering our prayer.

In today’s’ gospel we observe how Jesus instilled hope in Jairus, in spite of the shock of hopeless news he received. Jesus tells us just as he told Jairus not to stop trusting in him even if the matter goes from bad to worse. He also tells us not to allow our fear and desperation at that time to win a victory over us. Instead, make our trust win a victory over fear, anxiety and desperation with the strength of a persistent faith in him like that of the unnamed woman. He tells us to go on believing and trusting in God in spite of contrary results. Faith in the power of Jesus not only heals us but also saves us from the controlling  force of fear and desperation in moments of incurable illness/ untimely death of our dear ones and other calamities.

4) In another sense, Jesus comes to take us by the hand and wake us up from our sleepiness and inactivity. If we really believe that Jesus is Life-giver, he can wake us up from our attitudes of lethargy, coldness, unconcern, indifference, laziness and inactive existence. This is a wonderful lesson for us, especially for the youth, to make use of our energies and capabilities to the fullest extent and not to keep them buried inside of us or selfishly use them only for ourselves. We need to let Jesus catch our hands and lift us up from these shortcomings, just as he had held the hands of the little girl and raised her up, so that we exhibit vitality, enthusiasm and zeal in our life. He tells us to arise and wake up from our indifferent, lethargic and sleepy mentality and be pro-active.

5) We are called to imitate the compassion and humanness as well as humane nature of Jesus. The disciples in their insensitive regard towards the woman’s misery were unwilling to pay any attention to her (5:31) unmindful of what must have been going on in her heart. As per Jewish understanding, blood stood for life. Hence she was gradually losing her very life for the past twelve years. Her life that was draining out of her was restored by the compassion of Jesus. We quite often hurt those who are very close to us by our insensitivity to their feelings and needs, and look at the problems only from our personal point of view disregarding what others feel about it. Quite contrary to this, we notice the attitude of compassion on the part of Jesus who did not mind becoming ceremonially unclean in order to save a suffering woman, and requested the family members of Jairus to give his daughter something to eat.

6) Finally, this passage inspires us to become life-givers to others after the model of Jesus, especially in those situations where we notice a ‘culture of death.’ The growing tendencies of violence, crime, breakdown of families, denial of human rights and dignity, abortion, euthanasia, terrorism, environmental degradation, etc. are life-negating or life-threatening factors in our world and society. In the midst of these anti-life forces which downgrade the preciousness and value of life, our mission is to uphold or promote the dignity of human life. Let us think how we can do it even in a small way.

5.    Response to God's Word

Are we spiritually dead? Does our faith and trust in Jesus’ power over life and death lead us to rise from our sins and selfishness and live a resurrected life of holiness and grace? What are the dying and death-like situations we are facing? Do we rely on the power of faith and total trust in God to overcome our fear and desperation in these moments? With the strength of our faith, do we try to discover hope even in hopeless situations, especially when our miseries turn from bad to worse? In what ways are we sleeping and lethargic? Do we have a strong desire to rise or wake up from them? Do we hurt those who are very close to us by our insensitivity to their feelings and needs? Do we promote a culture of life in the midst of culture of death operative in our world?

6.    A prayer

Jesus, the Giver of life, touch me, lift and raise me up from my spiritual death. I trust in you. Give me the power and grace to overcome my fear of death and anxieties in moments of desperation generated by adversity and calamities. Grant that I may discover hope in you even in hopeless situations. I do believe in your power to heal me as well as save me when I am engulfed by powers of darkness and death. Lift me up and raise me from my fallen condition and insensitivity to human needs and misery. Give me a ray of your compassion so that I may move from unconcern at human misery to compassion. Amen.

 

 

12th Sunday of Ordinary Time (B)

 

Twelfth Sunday of B [Mk 4:35-41]

23.06.2024

The Stilling of the Storm and the Movement from Fear to Faith

Readings: (1) Job 38:1.8-11 (2) 2 Cor 5:14-17

1.  Theme in brief:

Moving from fear and anxiety to faith and trust

2.  Focus Statement:   

Whenever we face trials, Jesus invites us to move from anxiety and fear to a deeper faith and trust in his power over the evil forces and storms of life.

3.  Explanation of the text

Today’s gospel text in which the disciples address Jesus as Teacher when they are about to perish in the turbulent and surging sea (4:38), is meant to teach them a lesson on the necessity of a deeper faith in him. It teaches them that they need to constantly struggle against some great ‘windstorms’ that blow against their faith in God or in him, such as trials, fears and the negative influence of evil forces in the world (4:37, 39). These are the tempests or waves of storms that beat into the ‘boat’ of life during the faith-journey of disciples and threaten to sink it (4:37).

It seems that the Lake of Galilee was notorious for its sudden and frightening storms. On a day when evening comes Jesus tells his disciples to go to other side of the lake (4:35). It is going to be dark soon. Probably Mark may be symbolically referring to darkness of trials and tests of faith in the life of disciples when they find it hard to recognize the presence of the Lord. The scene of disciples getting terrified with the thought of their Teacher’s least concern when they are going to perish in the sea (4:38) symbolizes the forces of fear overruling their faith in God or in him. Their outcry, “Do you not care that we are perishing” (4:38) implies that they want Jesus to conduct a spectacular, miraculous and visible rescue operation. If their faith were unconditional, they would have been ready to perish along with him, trusting that certainly he would intervene before allowing himself to perish.

 The roaring sea and the frightening windstorms symbolize the evil or satanic powers at work as per Jewish worldview at the time of Jesus. This is clear from the fact that Jesus ‘rebukes’ the wind and the waves exactly in the same words (in the original language, Greek) as he rebuked the demons (unclean spirits) earlier (Mk 1:25): “Be quiet” or “be still” (4:39). People in those days believed that storm in the sea or natural calamities were the works of demons. Here we see Jesus struggling against the satanic/evil forces and winning a victory over them by stilling the storm (4:39), foreshadowing his final victory over them at his resurrection.

When the disciples almost ‘rebuke’ Jesus for his lack of concern, Jesus rebukes them for their baseless fears (since he is with them) and for their lack of strong faith (4:40). They are shown as persons who underestimate Jesus’ power over the forces of nature. They are chided for the smallness of their faith weakened by fear, worry and anxiety. They fail to believe in the predominance of Jesus’ almighty power over the storm’s mighty power.

The disciples learn some important lessons from this event: (1) Their faith always remains vulnerable to storms of life. (2) So far they know that Jesus has the authority to forgive sins, to cast out demons, and to heal diseases. Now they learn a new lesson that he has authority over the forces of nature also. Even the wind and the sea obey him (4:41). This fills them with awe and makes them wonder: Ultimately, who is he then (4:41)? His power over the satanic forces that create chaos and turmoil in the sea (as per Jewish understanding in those days) is a sure sign of his divine character.

According to the Synoptic gospels all the miracles of Jesus are signs of the Kingdom of God – a state of freedom from the clutches of evil powers and dehumanizing forces. They are signs to tell us that through Jesus’ ministry God has come to save us from all sorts of evil forces that cause havoc in nature (such as natural calamities) or human body (such as diseases). He has come to destroy the kingdom of Satan or evil forces and establish the Kingdom of God – an experience of freedom from these bondages.

4.  Application to life                     

First of all we know it from experience that our faith in Jesus, however strong it may be, does not guarantee that we shall always sail in calm waters. Secondly, it is not true that storms come in the life of only those who disobey God. According to today’s gospel text, the disciples were caught up in the terrible storm precisely because they obeyed the Lord. It was he who had proposed to them to cross over to the other side of the lake (4:35). Faith is not a readymade thing. It has its own ups and downs; it grows and wanes. It is constantly threatened by ‘storms’ of life. In our personal life we may meet with storms such as trials, fears, doubts, impulses and temptations towards evil or sin (especially to fall back on our personal weakness/ defects of character), diseases (sometimes incurable), accidents, sudden death of dear ones, unsolvable problems, tensions, worries, anxiety and uncertainty; in our family and social life we may meet with marital infidelity, betrayals, financial crisis, loss of job, unemployment, injustice, discrimination; in our surroundings we may meet with natural calamities (cyclone, tsunami, earthquake, drought, flood), wars, riots, unbearable effects of climate change and global warming. These and many other factors are like storms that blow against our faith and threaten to sink our faith-life’s boat. During these trials we feel God seems to be simply absent and not caring for us.

Our fears increase day by day as the world advances: fear of being robbed; of being attacked by an enemy; of remaining unemployed; of losing a job; of being killed in a bomb blast or accident; of a sudden transfer to a remote place; of dreadful sicknesses like cancer and heart attack; of being left alone in old age; of breakage of love-relationships; of what others may think of us or say to us when we try to behave differently from others; of our children getting into deviant or criminal behaviour; of natural or man-made calamities (like accidents, floods, earthquakes, cyclones); of the unknown future; of untimely or unprepared death…. The list goes on ……… Lack of deep faith is often the cause of fear when we face trials, as was the case of Christ’s disciples. It was fear that made them lose trust in Jesus and question whether he really cared. They could not believe this: As the Lord is in control of every situation, why should we fear?

When we become victims of trials, fears (whether real or imaginary), anxiety, worry and evil forces in our world, our faith is severely tested. When we permit these things to take control of us and rule over our minds, they begin to enslave us. Instead of the Lord directing our lives, these ‘storms’ become an independent force driving us where we, heart of hearts, do not like to go. Here comes the ‘evening’ of our life when forces of darkness descend on us threatening to sink our life’s boat. These ‘storms’ or forces become our worst masters and control or drive us to wrong directions such as depression, disappointment, meaninglessness, emptiness, etc. At that time, just as the disciples of Jesus felt, we too feel that God is sleeping over the matter and does not care. He seems to be unconcerned about our troubles and least bothered about our prayers. Feelings of God’s indifference, his absence, his non-intervention to rescue us, or don’t-care-attitude put our faith to severe test. Sometimes God seems to be not only asleep but dead. In our over-anxiety we forget the Scripture which says he is a God who neither slumbers nor sleeps (Ps 121:4).

Faith involves a constant struggle against all these forces. Through today’s gospel-message, Jesus invites us to purify, strengthen, deepen and renew our faith. Jesus chides us as he did to his disciples: “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith” (4:30)? It is only by passing through or crossing over from trials of life we can reach the other side of the lake. This is exactly what is meant by paschal mystery – a mystery of life in which we pass over from fear and anxiety to total trust in the Lord till we meet him on the other side of the ‘lake’ (= at the end of our life). We can triumph over the storms of life only if we strongly rely on the power of Jesus over evil forces. Since Jesus himself has crossed over trials, suffering and death and reached ‘the other side’ (= has won a victory over them) through his resurrection, we too are invited by him to ‘go across to the other side’ (4:35) through trials.

When we strongly believe and become conscious that Jesus is present in our trials we can experience peace and calmness even in the midst of wildest storms of life. If we do not tackle the storms of life with the strength of faith, they can become detrimental to our spiritual, mental and physical health and can rob our peace of mind. Instead of allowing ourselves to sink in over-anxiety and worry, Jesus invites us to put our faith in his care and power. We can win the test of faith in all adverse situations only by putting our trust in Jesus and believing that no matter what happens to us, he is present there. Sometime we do not know which way to go and what decision to take. When the storms of anxiety and fear toss our life’s boat up and down, we need to cry to him in humble submission: “Lord, show me the way; I am perishing” and hear his voice: “Peace; be still.”

Faith is a total surrender of our life into the hands of the Lord, trusting in his power. Our faith has to grow from doubting the presence of the Lord in trials to a total surrender to him. Jesus invites us to grow from our little and doubtful state of faith to one of trustful surrender. We lose trust in the power and goodness of the Lord when we face the darkness. The Lord invites us to abandon ourselves into his arms just like a child by accepting him as the only Lord and Master of life, and allowing him to take us where he wants and do with us what he wants. This is the faith that leads to surrendering of our entire life – all that we are and all that we have – into his hands.

There is a tendency in many of us to go through all the religious practices and rituals without allowing our faith to influence our life – our attitudes, behaviour and action. Only when we offer our entire lives to God, put him in charge of our lives and permit him to do what he wants with us, we get the power to bear unbearable situations, to do what humanly speaking seems to be impossible, to accept persons and situations as they are. We have to move from mere ‘religiosity’ (that is, taking our faith only as practice of certain rituals and knowledge of religious tenets) to a personal spirituality that motivates us to say: “Do what you want with me Lord; I’m yours.” When we face severe trials, we have two options: either to go on worrying that God is not concerned and does not care, or to totally trust in his care. A person of faith thinks thus: if even the wind and the mighty sea obey him, does he not have the power to calm down my restlessness and anxiety caused due to lack of trust in him, and often due to imaginary fears?

Just like the disciples, each one of us should ask and personally answer this question: “After all, who is Jesus for me?” Keeping quiet and not answering this question is equal to allowing our tempests to ruin our faith. Though Jesus has control over nature, he has no control over human hearts. The human heart must open itself to him. That is faith. Jesus cannot force faith on us. Faith is a free response of those who recognize in his words and deeds the power of God.

5.  Response to God's Word

What are the trials, fears and evil forces that blow against our faith and threaten to sink it? Do we allow these forces to take control of us and rule over our minds or enslave us?  When we do not understand God’s ways and do not find solution to our problems, do we surrender our life into the hands of the Lord, trusting in his power? Do we make efforts to deepen our faith by going beyond ritual practices to an act of total surrender? Do we really believe that faith is such a great force that it can ‘move mountains’ and ‘uproot trees’ – that is, motivate us to face mountainous problems and to uproot deeply rooted evil habits? What is your response to Jesus’ rebuke: “Have you still no faith?”

6.  A Prayer

In full response to your love O Lord, I offer to you whatever I have and I am. Whatever I have is your gift to me, and whatever I am is my gift to you. Therefore, I lovingly and willingly return to you whatever you have given me, without any reserve. Take me where you want to take; give me what you want to give; lead me in your paths. Here am I Lord to do your will. Assure me Lord that I am in your loving care. Amen.

 

 

11th Sunday of Ordinary Time (B)

 

Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (B) [Mk 4:26-34]

16.06.2024

The Parables of the Growing Seed and the Mustard Seed

Readings: (1) Ez 17:22-24 (2) 2 Cor 5:6-10

1.  Theme in brief:

Patience and trust in God’s power

2.  Focus Statement:   

Just as the seed has power to sprout and grow as per its nature, so do our efforts to bring about God’s rule of love over human hearts and society; but we must patiently wait for the seed of God’s Word to bear fruit with an unwavering trust in God’s power.

3.    Explanation of the text

A parable is a sort of comparison of a thing or subject already known to people (especially in Jesus’ locality) with another unknown reality. Without defining exactly what his main dream or project called ‘the Kingdom of God’ means (which is an unknown ‘thing’ for his audience), Jesus compares its nature or characteristics with commonly known or seen and experienced realities of daily life. 

In today’s gospel, Jesus explains the nature and future of God’s Kingdom through two such comparisons or illustrations. Both are called the parables of contrast, since they speak of smallness or littleness of the beginning with the surprise of a great result in future. Both of these parables were probably given in the context of a doubt that existed in the minds of his disciples whether his dream-project (God’s Kingdom) would succeed at all, since most of the higher-ups in Jewish society were outright against him. There was no dramatic and visible success of his movement called “the Kingdom of God.” Their hopes were getting shattered. Both the parables in today’s gospel are given to raise their fallen or drooping spirit.

In the first parable titled by some as “The Parable of the Seed Growing in Secret” and by some others as “ The Parable of the Patient Farmer” (4:26-29), Jesus uses the example of farming activity. In it he tells his disciples that a farmer can do only what is under his power and control: prepare the soil, sow the seed, manure and water it, but can neither make the seed sprout nor grow. He cannot hasten the harvest either. He must wait till the harvest time. He neither knows nor understands how this process of growth takes place (4:27). After sowing the seed and doing whatever is within his means to facilitate a good produce, he carries on his normal life like sleeping at night and waking up at dawn (14:27). But the seed grows with a potentiality which is within it. The earth brings forth fruit by itself, first the stalk, then the head and the full grain in the head according to the nature which is already present within the seed (14:28). The inactivity of the farmer during the growth of the seed is contrasted with his quick activity of going with a sickle to reap the harvest when it is ready (4:29). Or his patient waiting is contrasted with the certainty of the harvest as a reward for his waiting. It is clear that this parable is given as a lesson to the disciples who are disturbed and disappointed by slowness of the growth of God’s Kingdom and acceptance of Jesus’ message.

In the midst of doubt, discouragement and impatience of his disciples, Jesus seems to tell them that the seeds of the gospel or the values of God’s Kingdom which are sown by ‘farmers’ (= his disciples) in the world or in the human heart, are bound to produce wonderful fruits in the long run, but in God’s own time and without much noise. The harvest is certain. What the farmer must do is wait patiently. In the midst of unimpressive results of Jesus’ ministry the disciples are told to trust and hope in God even if the result seems to be minimum at present. Besides this, some scholars say that in this parable Jesus probably hints against the views and activities of fanatics called the Zealots in his time who were getting impatient with God. They were thinking God was too slow to break the yoke of Roman oppression. So they wanted to overthrow Roman dominion with a violent and armed revolution.

In the second parable, titled as the “Parable of the Mustard Seed” (4:30-32), Jesus compares the eventual growth of God’s Kingdom with the size of a mustard tree in contrast to the tiny size of its seed. Though its seed is the smallest of all seeds on ‘earth’ (of course on the limited earth known to Jewish farmers, 4:31), when sown it grows up to become the tallest of shrubs in their region (4:32). The contrast is between the smallness of the seed and the greatness of the shrub. Jesus gives them the hope that one day, the tree of God’s Kingdom will give shelter to ‘birds of the air,’ namely, the Gentiles (4:32).

4.  Application to life                     

The parables in today’s gospel speak of the contrast between small and insignificant beginnings of any work done for God and his values with the certainty of its tremendous outcome and future destiny. They tell us not to be discouraged by small beginnings; a few people listening to good advice; a few only, even among the Religious, seriously or radically following Jesus’ way. They inculcate hope in us that our efforts to establish God’s Kingdom on earth – that is, to build up communities, to promote peace and reconciliation, to bring about a just society and to uphold the dignity of human life may not yield immediate results. The result will come in God’s own time – he alone knows when. The Kingdom of God is a divine accomplishment and not human. We need to be patient with the delay of its coming. The kingdom grows naturally and gradually instead of suddenly and dramatically.

How wonderfully these two parables point to some of the most common problems we experience and observe as the world advances to higher and higher degrees of progress: impatience, anxiety, despair and overconfidence in one’s own achievements. What are the symptoms of impatience in our world today? In our modern world ‘instant gratification’ is the name of the game. There is so much craving for fast and instant results like the ‘fast food,’ ‘instant coffee,’ ‘instant download or upload’ in our computers and Smartphone. Because of this, any delay in anything irritates us and drives us mad. Even if our best friend arrives ten minutes late, quite many of us may be impatiently spending that time by fiddling in their mobile phones while cursing him/her in their minds. We are constantly tempted to lose patience and become overanxious when results do not turn out instantly and as we wish. The more time we save because of many of our works being done by machines nowadays, the more we rush about and overwork. We are made to believe that spending too many hours at work, sleeping less and spending very little time for human relations will make us very prosperous and successful. We forget that by rushing about and overwork, a sinner will not repent, an unruly child will not change, an illness will not get healed, loving relationships are not established and peace is not attained. Sometimes we observe the situation around us and feel that nothing good is happening and we are powerless to control anything; everything is under the control of powers that will not change anyway. So we sink into despair and get discouraged.

In the midst of these realities, the two parables in today’s gospel advocate optimism and hope, instead of pessimism and despair. Just as the seed has power to sprout and grow inherent in its nature, so do our efforts to bring about God’s rule over human hearts and society. Our efforts may have a small beginning but the final result will be enormous. God’s work begins with a humble starter: a few people meeting to address a problem, a gesture of kindness, a smile, a word of encouragement for doing the right thing, a helping hand extended to the needy, a voice raised to oppose an evil, a sharing of knowledge with the ignorant, etc. Jesus tells us to believe in this principle: Just like a seed, which has the potentiality to grow into a big tree, small beginnings also have the potentiality of a widespread growth. We should sow the seeds of good conduct, love, honesty. Then trust in God that he will bring fruit in his own time. If we sow the seeds of love in the hearts of others, they will grow secretly. If we sow the seeds of hatred, they will become like an over-dose of fertilizer, which burns the crop. Even sowing the seeds of love with a friendly smile, a kind gesture, a warm welcome, a little support to the weaker section, a little encouragement to the neglected people will slowly lead to   growth of God’s Kingdom in others.

Both of these parables invite us to examine whether we trust in our own efforts or in God’s power. Through these parables Jesus invites us not to give in to impatience and discouragement. He says God’s Kingdom will grow with certainty but we must give up our illusion to think we can control the coming of his Kingdom in the way we want, on our terms and at a time determined by us. God’s ways are not our ways; they are mysterious and full of surprises. So we should let God be God. We can only provide opportunities and facilities for change and wait on God to do his work of bringing about result in the way he wants and in his own time. Since we often do not see instant results of our good work and guidance, there is a temptation to give it up out of discouragement. At that time what or how do we decide? Despite insignificant beginnings due to the positive response of only a few, the Kingdom of God has a tremendous capacity to grow. We should not be disappointed by the fact that the number of those who genuinely follow Jesus may be only a handful. We have to wait patiently for the seed of faith and love to bear fruits. We cannot make the Kingdom grow by our own power, but trust in God’s power. Jesus tells us not to be discouraged and not to lose heart. Here is his message of hope and encouragement for us.

What is patience? Normally we understand that patience means enduring pain/ irritation/ failure/ lack of result without any complaint; tolerating bad situations with quietness and calm. It looks like suffering everything in silence. Patience is not exactly like that.  It means the same as putting our faith and trust in God that everything will work out well in its own time with him in control of every situation, including our destiny. We become impatient when we are not able to accept the present and wish it would be different. We need to do some self-talk when this thing happens: “After all everything is passing by. And God is in control. Then why be so impatient?” Actually, we can only sow the seeds of good conduct and gospel values in human hearts and society. We can also create an environment for growth like a farmer who waters and manures the fields. However, we cannot make the seed sprout, grow and yield fruit. After doing our best, we need to wait patiently for God to bring about the result. This work of yielding fruit is done by God secretly, without our knowledge, while we sleep and rise up as today parable says, i.e. go about our normal duties. Though we should be committed to our work of bringing about God’s Kingdom, we have to be patient enough to leave the fruits in God’s hands. In spite of our careful planning and meticulous calculations, we cannot establish God’s Kingdom with our power. God in his own time will reward our humble efforts. Every seed has a potentiality for growth in it, which is God-given.

5.  Response to God's Word

What are the symptoms of impatience in our day-to-day life? Do we get often impatient with people around us and make uncharitable comments about them due to it? Do we often give in to anxiety, despair and overconfidence in our own achievements? Do we trust only in our own efforts or in God’s power? Do we often lose patience and become overanxious when results do not turn out instantly and as we wish? Do we live a life of optimism and hope, or pessimism and despair? Since we often do not see instant results of our good work and guidance, should we give it up out of discouragement, or let God do what he wants?

6.  A Prayer

O infinitely patient God! When I consider your inexhaustible patience with me, I do not know why I become so impatient with myself and others. I believe that you are in control of my destiny. Do what you want with me. I regret for the times I had been impatient with my near and dear ones, colleagues, companions and neighbours. Give me the generosity to accept people and situations as they are and trust in your power and not my power. Amen.