Good News Underground (2015-06-14 - 11th Sun.)

11^th Sunday (B) / 14 June 2015

Ezekiel 17:22-24

Psalm 92

2 Corinthians 5:6-10

Mark 4:26-34

[__01___]         It seems that there is Good News about life underground.

Reflecting on these parables of the sower and seed and the planting of the seed, we recognize that a healthy environment is necessary for growth in the earth, in the soil.

This originates underground, invisibly, out of sight.

[__02___]      In the Gospel, the Kingdom of God is compared to the underground, subterranean development/growth of a tree or plant.

Regarding this progress in the soil, we read:

“This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and through it all the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how.” (Mark 4:26-27)

Do we hope, do we expect to find life underground?

At times, life underground can be troublesome or risky.

For example …

·       In an earthquake… in a tunnel.

·       In the plants or trees that could grow beneath our porches or houses

·       Or ..in the objects which might accumulate in our basements.

[__03___]         Do we hope, do we expect to find life underground?

The Good News is that our Savior expects that we would find life underground, that the Kingdom of God grows in secret.

And, he wishes that we would participate in the discovery.

[__04__]      Through these parables, our Savior reminds us of the importance of life underground

[__05__]      In your life and in my life, we are called to part of God’s kingdom, and in this kingdom God’s word – and God’s commandments – are the seed which is planted in the soil, in the earth.

This seed and these roots grow gradually and also invisibly.

[__06__]      As we just read in the Gospel …

“This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and through it all the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how.” (Mark 4:26-27)

[__07__]      Yes, this growth depends on the sacramental moments and sacramental graces on the day of ..

·       Baptism

·       Confirmation

·       Sunday Mass & Communion & First Communion

·       The wedding day / Sacrament of Matrimony

All of these moments are important sacramental encounters with God as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

And, what Jesus is saying is that our soil, our life, our earth is changed by the planting of these seeds in sacramental moments.

[__08___]        However, the growth of God’s kingdom also occurs when we are not watching or observing explicitly.

[JURASSIC PARK / JURASSIC WORLD EXAMPLE]  We may, at times, resemble the scientists and “developers” in the fictional Hollywood action-movie, Jurassic World …. These scientists and developers are trying hard to control the growth of their ancient flora and dinosaurs. They wonder how they became so powerful. Where did they achieve all this growth?

For example, if experience a movement in our hearts, a movement in our consciences, to act in a certain way, to admit a fault, to do something generous…. We might say that these thoughts or movements are similar to the seed which grows …though the man of the parable knows not how. (cf. Mark 4:26-27)

 [__09___]       We may wonder, at times, why we are called to act differently or contrary to the way in which our friends or family would behave.

Sometimes, especially, when we are are young, we experience this as peer pressure to follow a friend or to fit in with the crowd.

Some of our friends are also leading us “UNDERGROUND”…but it is not necessarily a path to the Kingdom of God.

In our consciences – in secret and underground – we know that God’s way call us to a certain virtue or honesty.

For example, we are called to….

·       Treat our bodies our own person – and others – as Temples of the Holy Spirit.

·       …pray for enemies…to pray for those who persecute us….

·       Persevere even if we were criticized or rejected for doing what is right…. Sometimes, the persecution is an indirect way of recognition that we are doing what God asks…not what anyone else wants.

We are called not simply to do what appears good above the surface or on the ground, but also to do what is right underground in our hearts.

The Catholic Church teaches…

“The heart is the dwelling-place where I am, where I live; according to the Semitic or Biblical expression, the heart is the place "to which I withdraw." The heart is our hidden center, beyond the grasp of our reason and of others; only the Spirit of God can fathom the human heart and know it fully. The heart is the place of decision, deeper than our psychic drives. It is the place of truth, where we choose life or death. It is the place of encounter, because as image of God we live in relation: it is the place of covenant.” (CCC 2563)

[_10_]     In this regard, God works mysteriously underground in our hearts, in our souls.

[_11_]      In our prayer today – and every day – we realize that we cannot change the ATMOSPHERE or the CLIMATE CONDITIONS into which we are born or in which we exist.

Neither can the farmers schedule the rainfall or sunlight.  Of course, they wish they could just as we may wish we could control the actions of others.

Rather, we live in an ATMOSPHERE or CLIMATE that may include, both:

·       Justice and injustice

·       Love and indifference

·       Honesty and deception.

However, here on earth, underground, we can unite ourselves to God, in an intimate relationship so that he can work to shelter, to protect us and to guide us with his grace, in our soil, so that we might the be good trees that bear good fruit with his help.  (cf. Matthew 7:17)

There is Good News underground.

[_fin_]