A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark
Jesus said to the crowds: “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 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.”
The Gospel from today follows directly after where yesterday’s left off. Jesus goes on to tell two other parables about the Kingdom of God: one relates to the growth of seed planted in the ground; the other, to the smallest of seeds that becomes the largest of plants, the mustard seed. In both parables, the growth of the Kingdom of God benefits the one who spreads the seed. The growth of the seed, the kingdom, is a mystery to the sower. In either parable, the sower plants but God nurtures the growth to maturity.
God, help me understand as I am able to understand the mystery described in these parables. Saint Paul in the first reading encourages us to seek the Kingdom of God by doing his will: “You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what he has promised.” The result of that endurance, he says, is that “We are not among those who draw back and perish, but among those who have faith and will possess life.” Lord, let the little I do today in scattering seed be an act of delight and complete trust in you to bring into this reality the mysteries of the Kingdom. “Commit to the LORD your way,” the Responsorial Psalm says, “trust in him, and he will act.”
God, your Kingdom is to come and is here at this moment. I know you delight in me as I strive to grow closer to you. Let me know the joy today of active participation in your kingdom as I see it sprouting and growing of its own accord.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.