June 17, 2018: 11th Sunday Ordinary B
June 17, 2018: 11th Sunday Ordinary B
Click to hear Audio Homily
Many of us in our community have been successful with our vegetable garden this season. In fact, many of you have been giving away to family and friends your bumper crop of tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, eggplant and other vegetables. What was your secret to success? Was it the right amount of water or plant food? Was it the sunshine or the right temperature? Those of you with a ‘green thumb’ know that ultimately, a gardener cannot make the seed grow. We can provide the right temperature, water, and fertilizer, yet the growth of a seed into a plant or a tree remains a mystery to us. Certainly we know what will kill a plant — our neglect of providing moisture, sunlight, and nutrients, or spraying weed killer. Our science advancement has given us insight into some of the processes within the plant, but the growth or the thriving of a plant is a secret that is held within the plant itself.
Many of us in our community have been successful with our vegetable garden this season. In fact, many of you have been giving away to family and friends your bumper crop of tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, eggplant and other vegetables. What was your secret to success? Was it the right amount of water or plant food? Was it the sunshine or the right temperature? Those of you with a ‘green thumb’ know that ultimately, a gardener cannot make the seed grow. We can provide the right temperature, water, and fertilizer, yet the growth of a seed into a plant or a tree remains a mystery to us. Certainly we know what will kill a plant — our neglect of providing moisture, sunlight, and nutrients, or spraying weed killer. Our science advancement has given us insight into some of the processes within the plant, but the growth or the thriving of a plant is a secret that is held within the plant itself.
Our Lord likens the growth of the kingdom of God to seeds planted by a farmer. Just as the seed grows in secret, unbeknownst to us, the kingdom of God has already begun its growth in us. God has made us in His image and likeness and planted the seed of growth and transformation through the Sacraments--Baptism, Reconciliation, Eucharist, Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders, and Anointing of the Sick. God’s plan for us and the whole creation is that His Will be done as perfectly on earth as it is in heaven. We pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We may delay, hinder, or run away from God’s will for us, yet God unfolds his plan unceasingly in our lives.
There is a temptation in us to superimpose our own desires and plans over that which God desires for us. It’s hard for us to let go of our attachment to what we desire and to accept and allow God’s desire to be fulfilled in us. St. Bernard of Clairvaux said it this way, “Behold the true sign of a totally perfect soul: when one has reached the point of giving up his will so completely that he no longer seeks, expects, or desires to do but what which God wills.” How hard it is to reach this state of surrender! Don’t we find ourselves sometimes angry, frustrated, and resentful that something is not going our way? In such times we need to reflect and ask the Lord whether we are more attached to love of self than to love of God. We need a spiritual inventory to discern if we neglected to provide nourishment and water for our souls--that is, self-denial, humility, desire to please God in all things, prayer, Eucharist, and Reconciliation.
The harvest that Our Lord expects in each of us is true love for God that propels us to carry out His will in all our actions. The harvest that Our Lord expects is to embody God’s love as we relate to our Christian sisters and brothers and as we connect with our neighbors beyond the church. The kingdom of God grows each day as we reach out and help our family, friends and neighbors and when we go beyond our comfort zone to help a stranger in need. Unfortunately, we have too often fallen short of this call, but thanks to the grace of God, we are continually invited to be part of this mission despite our individual and collective failures. We are challenged each and every day to grow in the love of Christ both individually and as a collective church.
Our daily news is full of stories of injustice and violence both at home and abroad. Tragically, hatred, injustice, division, and violence are too often perpetrated against the most vulnerable members of society. In the face of this profound brokenness, the world desperately needs to experience the kingdom of God through the hearts and mind of loving Christians whose mission is to bring Christ’s love to all. Sometimes the most difficult thing to do is to trust that a given situation or a relationship needs our patience in order to see the growth and transformation. Perhaps we could remind ourselves this week to take time to reflect when we encounter situations or persons that we find difficult to deal with. Make a simple prayer such as, ‘Lord, teach me to be patient like a farmer who awaits the harvest after planting seeds. I hope and trust that Your will be done, in Your time and according to Your way in a situation or a person with whom I’m struggling. Give me the grace to cooperate and not hinder Your Will. May Your Will be done, according to Your Word.’ We have a unique calling to continually live out the love that God has extended to all of humanity through the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Together, let us seek to grow more fully into that love.
