Daily Gospel Reflection for June 13, 2021 - 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Join us as we reflect, ponder, and pray together inspired by today's Gospel.

Today's Gospel: Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time - Mark 4:26-34

In the spring of 2020 I had a lot of at-home time on my hands, as did you, I’m sure. One result of this for me was to finally put in that garden that I had been considering for some ten years (to be fair, I was birthing and raising five kids in that decade).

To you lifelong gardeners, what I’m about to say is going to be laughable. But to a first-time gardener like myself, I have to say, when I planted seeds in the soil, it seemed extremely unlikely that anything would come of it. They were dried, hard, small specks. Not only that, but I also had no idea what I was doing. From these dead-looking spheres, I was told by experienced gardeners, stems and leaves and vegetables would flower forth. It was preposterous.

In this Gospel passage, Jesus likens the kingdom of God to a sower scattering seeds. In His parable, what does the sower have to do? In other words, what input does the kingdom of God take from us? The sower had to sow the seed. That’s it. He scatters the seeds and then goes about his usual business of sleeping and arising. Meanwhile, a miracle is taking place until the full grain is ready to be harvested.

What does this mean for us in our everyday lives? It means doing the things in life God calls us to, even when (most of all when) any positive outcome seems extremely unlikely. Writing to your elected official. Engaging someone in conversation who has views different from your own. Bringing a meal to an unfriendly neighbor who has just broken his arm.

And, as for our real-life garden, miraculously, it actually worked. We watched and marveled. We watered and wondered. We picked and ate--no, we feasted. Though we knew nothing, the small act of sowing--our act of faith--yielded us more produce than we could eat, enough to share with half a dozen neighbors.

Ponder:

There are many good things in this life we can do: what seeds is God asking you to sow so that the kingdom of heaven may take root on earth?

Pray:

Dear God, I desire very much to be Your hands and feet on earth. What unlikely action do You want me to take? Grant me ears to hear and courage to act.