11th Sunday in Ordinary Time
June 14, 2015
4 PM, 10 AM & 12Noon Liturgies
J.A. Loftus, S.J.
There is an old biblical saying: “A text without a context…is
just a pretext for saying whatever you want it to mean.” Today a
little bit of context might make all the difference in the world.
We are finally really back in Ordinary Time and so back to
reading Mark’s gospel for the rest of the liturgical year (except, of
course, for special feast days). But today’s gospel starts well within
Mark’s fourth chapter. A lot has gone on before this. Let’s re-cap a
bit.
Immediately after his baptism by John, the Spirit drives Jesus
into the dessert for forty days. When he returns he gathers the
first disciples to himself and begins exorcizing demons and
teaching the people with authority. The groups of listeners get
larger and larger until finally we are told great crowds are
gathering to hear him and see him perform miracles. The crowds
are so large that Jesus takes to preaching from boats in the Sea of
Galilee.
At some point Jesus flees back into a quiet dessert place and
Simon and his friends find him to say, “Everyone is looking for you.”
And Jesus says, let’s go to the neighboring towns and villages.
And then the crowds get even larger including people not
only from Judea and Jerusalem but also from as far away as Tyre
and Sidon. He continues teaching, often from the sea, but now
begins to teach in parables. And chapter four of Mark’s gospel
contains many of those initial parables. The chapter begins,
though, with another parable of sowing, the one where seed is
spilled on rock, thorns, and finally good soil.
It quickly becomes clear that no one is really getting the
parables, not even the closest disciples, not even “the twelve.” We
might take from this that the parables might not be intended to be
that easily understood. Jesus seems to have known that. As
Professor Amy-Jill Levine says, if you think you really “get” one of
the parables, or you really like one of them, you’ve probably
misunderstood it (See Levine, A-J. Short Stories by Jesus: Enigmatic
Parables of a Controversial Rabbi, p. 3ff). Parables are designed to
be tricky and not easily understood.
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You have probably heard the marvelous line about the
gospels, that they are designed “to comfort the afflicted, and afflict
the comfortable.” Well, the parables are Jesus’ major tool for
afflicting the comfortable. They are often inscrutable and puzzling.
They are meant to be.
With all that in mind, what do we make of today’s two little
parables? The first one is also about a seed and growth. But this
one is painfully brief and open to all kinds of interpretations. It is
also unique to Mark’s gospel. A farmer plants a seed, goes to bed,
slowly watches a sprout, and then a full ear and grain. The farmer
wonders that he has no idea why it happens. We, 2000 years later,
are much better at explaining “how” it happens. We know more
about agriculture. But even we don’t know much more than the
farmer about “why” it happens, do we?
As Professor Levine suggests, “ To speak of the parable as
demonstrating that great outcomes arrive from small beginnings is
correct, but it is banal”(p. 165). But remember that all Jesus’
parables are about the Kingdom of God. Could this little parable
just be a warning to all to stay out of the way of God’s creation,
God’s work? We will never understand it anyway! I don’t know
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exactly what it means either. Maybe you can tell me on the way out
of church, or next week sometime. But maybe it will mean many
different things to many different people. That’s how real parables
are made.
And now on to the mustard seed. This parable is told in other
gospel accounts though they all differ significantly. Listen to
Professor Levine again, “The parable of the mustard seed has put
forth so many branches of interpretation that the birds of heaven
could build multiple nests and still have room for expansion” (p.
152). No easy answers here either.
If you feel confused at all by now take some consolation from
the fact that Jesus seems to have seen this coming. Just before
teaching these two parables Jesus says to the disciples, “Everything
comes in parables in order that ‘they may indeed look and not
perceive, and may indeed listen, but not understand.’” Ever figure
that one out?
So is there a “take-home?” Perhaps here: God’s kingdom is
here and God’s kingdom will grow to fruition--with or without any
of my efforts. And aside from God’s creative love and sustaining
love and sanctifying love for all creation, there really is no other
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explanation needed or wanted. God’s Promise is sure. God’s
kingdom is sure. Perhaps the marvelous Indian Jesuit, Tony
DeMello, got it right when he defined the Eastern notion of
Enlightenment. He said, “Enlightenment is complete co-operation
with the inevitable.”
My sisters and brothers, God’s kingdom is inevitable! Let’s
just decide to co-operate a bit more. Peace!
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