From the responsorial psalm: “It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praise to your name, Most High, To proclaim your kindness at dawn and your faithfulness throughout the night. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 4:26-34)
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 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.”
In the Gospel, Jesus echoes the words of the LORD as spoken in the first reading from Ezekiel. “It shall put forth branches and bear fruit, and become a majestic cedar. Birds of every kind shall dwell beneath it, every winged thing in the shade of its boughs.” So it is with the kingdom of God. The little effort we put forth in bringing about his kingdom is supernaturally fortified and imbued by God himself with love of his people, love that in turn goes out horizontally and veristically for the sake of his glory. God’s kingdom is by its authentic definition, bringing low what is high and lifting up what is low. “And all the trees of the field shall know that I, the LORD . . . , make the withered tree bloom.”
God, help me pause throughout the day and hear the words of Jesus as he describes the mystery of your kingdom. Everywhere outside, I see the wild growth of plants under the summer sun and rain. Tomato plants that were no bigger than my hand now stand at waist level. The tiny seeds I planted just weeks ago now have taken root and begin to blossom. As I hold fast to you, Lord, seeking you in the Church and its sacraments, help me remember to be thankful for all your gifts and faithfulness and to witness to it. Glory to you, Lord. As the psalmist prays: “They that are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.”
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.