Gospel: Mark   4:26-34  

Ballybrown Church

The Gospel today has a simple but very important message for us. Jesus takes an everyday image from the countryside, one that he must have noticed often – that of a farmer planting a tiny seed and that seed growing mysteriously producing a shoot, then leaves, and developing into a plant or, in the case of the mustard seed, into a fine tree that birds of the air could find a place to rest and build their nests. With this image, Jesus wants us to realise that while we have to do our part to spread the Kingdom of God, which means to spread love, peace, justice, truth, mercy – we need to always remember God does his part and that’s the largest part. We do 1% as it were but God does 99%.

What Jesus is inviting us to do is to trust more in him. We’ve to have patience just like the farmer sowing the seed. God is the Saviour of the world. He is at work even if at times we might find it hard to believe. We see wars, natural disasters and have personal setbacks and disappointments in our lives. We can feel discouraged when we see how even the Church faces difficulties and challenges that can seem overwhelming. Is our effort in spreading the Kingdom of God having any effect? The Gospel is reminding us that Jesus is the Lord of History and, through the Holy Spirit, he is bringing ahead God’s plans in ways and at times we can’t understand or fully grasp. After all, Scripture tells us that God can do in a day what in our calculations would need a thousand days. The Holy Spirit is joining the dots of our world’s history and speaking in the hearts of people all over the world, bringing about a world that is more in tune with God’s plan that we love one another.

The image of the seed reminds us of what we can do. Every little act of love on our part makes a difference. This is what we are to believe. St. Teresa of Lisieux is famous for believing that. Her “little way” was to do many acts of love, believing in God’s love. Together with some 300 people I’ll be going to Lourdes later this week on the Diocesan pilgrimage and I know I will see many acts of love done by the pilgrims together, helping assisted pilgrims and helping each other. And together we’ll build up an experience that will give hope and joy. It’ll be a reminder that the real heart of the Church is not about structures or successes or strategies or results but rather about living out the small ways of love that make a difference in our world.

The results of sowing little seeds, simple acts of love, do not depend on our abilities. They depend on the action of God. Love which has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit has within it the power to grow and develop. Let’s remember that especially in moments of darkness and of difficulty. Maybe there’s some personal situation we might be facing that seems impossible to resolve. It is important to believe that a simple act of love, done with the right intention and with due attention to the person we are doing the act of love for, can change things, even if we don’t immediately see that. What matters is to believe it. God is always the God of surprises. I’m thinking of a couple who shared an experience of helping their son whose wife has major issues with drink. For them it has’nt been easy but they’ve kept trying to do their part to love, to accompany, to listen. It’s not easy and I’m not saying there has been an immediate solution, but their son has felt supported and helped and their daughter-in-law has gradually taken important steps on her journey.

Sometimes, in life, the acts of love we do for others can be seasoned with humour and good cheer. During the week, in the Vatican Pope Francis met with a group of famous comedians from around the world, including a few from Ireland. He told them how he likes to pray every day with the words of Saint Thomas More: “Grant me, O Lord, a good sense of humour”. He said he asked for this grace every day because “it helps me approach things with the right spirit”. He then went on to say to the comedians, “Remember this: when you manage to draw knowing smiles from the lips of even one spectator, you also make God smile”. Yes, even one person cheered up or helped by our acts of love contributes to a world that is more according to the Kingdom of God.

Speaking of Pope Francis, I remember a few years ago I was in a room with the Pope together with a group of Irish bishops for our Ad limina visit. The Pope had a translator beside him who was translating for him. Our conversation lasted a good long time. At a certain point, the Pope got up and started to walk towards the wall. We weren’t sure what was happening. But there was a press inbuilt into the wall. He opened it and took out a bottle of mineral water and brought it back and poured out a glass of water for the translator whose voice he had noticed had begun to get a little hoarse. It was a simple act of love, but I remember that more, perhaps, than all the Pope or we said!

So, this Sunday, let’s decide to keep on doing our part in sowing seeds of love, day by day, trusting above all that the Holy Spirit is at work. But nothing is small if done out of love. The seeds of love grow and the God’s kingdom in our world spreads.