11th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year B


Ezekiel 17:22-24

Psalm 92:2-3, 13-14, 15-16

2 Corinthians 5:6-10

Mark 4:26-34


Two contrasting approaches to life are evident in the world today. One attempts to control everything by narrow ways of thinking, setting rigid standards for how we want things to proceed. The other is just to throw up our hands and to give up on finding a way forward. The feelings of the moment dictate how we act, without regard to consequences. Neither way of behaving serves us very well.

The Biblical approach, proposed by Jesus Himself, allows for a “third way.” We do what we can and do not attach ourselves to an outcome, trusting in providence to accomplish more than we could ever hope for or plan. The parables of the scattered seed and of the mustard seed illustrate the Kingdom that Jesus announces.

Anyone who has planted a garden knows that the usual protocol is to plant seeds carefully, in rows, with spaces between each plant that allow room to grow. When seeds are merely scattered, without proper digging and intentional planting, there is no guarantee that there will be growth in an orderly manner. The one who plants does nothing after the initial scattering and yet, “through it all the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.”

If the one who plants pays attention to the seeds, it is also evident that there is no accounting for just what size the plant that comes from the seed will be. As a case in point, there is “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.”

Note, however, that if birds live in the mustard bush, they are not very safe from predators. A mighty oak from a small acorn is a better guarantee of safety, though even that is precarious. (Just watch how squirrels treat bird feeders, carrying their food away, and the abandon with which they run through tree branches, heedless of any creatures that may dwell there.)

The kingdom grows, we know not how, and it will be whatever size and shape providence chooses. Our call is not simply to plan or to avoid participation because we are unable to do so with certainty. Rather, it is to be engaged. The kingdom is promised. It will come. Ezekiel’s prophecy assures Israel that this is so: God says, “As I, the Lord, have spoken, so will I do.” We must open our eyes to see. The parables invite us to learn to look, in order to see and understand God’s ways.

St. Paul shares with the Corinthians his own readiness to accept the dictates of providence. He is courageous in the body but also longs to leave the body to be with the Lord. He keeps before his eyes the fact of future judgment. Life in this world is uncertain, but life beyond this life is promised. “Therefore, we aspire to please him, whether we are at home or away. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil.”

Joy in this world is to be found through trusting in providence and putting our hands into the “holy work” entrusted to us. We can attend to the needs that are great, searching for solutions with minds and hearts that show real concern. At the same time, we can sleep peacefully while we wait upon the Lord to accomplish His own purposes among us. We must be ready to be surprised at how the Kingdom grows.

The world around us continues to doubt that we can find our way together. In the days ahead, while polarization becomes more intense, choose not to go there. Plant your own mustard seed and watch it grow!