OMELIE / Omelie EN

16 giu 2024

16/06/2024 11th Sunday in O. T. - B

16/06/2024 11^th Sunday in O. T. - B

Reading 1 EZ 17,22-24 * Psalm 91 * Reading 2 2COR 5,6-10 * Gospel MK 4,26-34

“We are always confident, even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord - for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord”. With these words of the apostle's we are invited and encouraged not to lose hope, so the certainty we are loved by the Lord. “While we are at home in the body” we are far from the Lord, but the distance is only physical. Our desire is already to be with Him, a single thing with Him, so we are “always confident”: we will have the joy of living with Him.

Our hope seems to us little thing, and little thing our faith too: it comes though from something very sizeable, like the twig Ezekiel is talking about. It has been taken from the top of a cedar tree and, planted on the high mountain, it will grow enviably, with abundant fruit and branches, so much so that “birds of every kind shall dwell beneath it”. What kind of tree could possibly be the one which comes from such a small place and will take the place of every other tree, being useful to all the peoples, which are symbolised by «the birds of the sky»?

We can give an answer after we have listened to the two parables Jesus is telling today.

With the first one He speaks about the “kingdom of God”, the kingdom He has already told us is about to come, because the king has arrived. Whoever want can join this king, so the kingdom grows and becomes bigger and develops. Jesus makes a comparison with a seed, sowed in the ground. That seed grows slowly, but now nobody can stop it from growing. Nobody is taking care of it, even the farmer can sleep, nonetheless the growth continues. And maturity will come, and it will bear fruit to make the bread which nourishes. So it will be for the kingdom that has begun: Jesus’s disciples will grow in number, slowly, and their life will change the world. Nobody can stop it now. In it love will grow, peace will spread, there will be joy, the one all men have always longed for.

The second parable highlights still more characteristics of this kingdom: thanks to its small size it will go unnoticed. But it will grow, despite remaining small. It will grow among the plants in the orchard, although it «puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade». Its usefulness and greatness is appreciated by everyone, by all the peoples: the “birds of the sky” for the prophet Ezekiel represent exactly the peoples with their typical cultural and religious characteristics. They will find the kingdom of heaven fitting for their life, so much so they will feel protected by it. Every religion in the world will recognise the usefulness and the greatness of this tree, so of the life of those who are united in following Jesus.

So «we aspire to please him», the apostle recommends us. This means that we will try to live like Jesus as «commanded» us to: we will live loving one another, giving everyone our attention and our availability, and accepting others as the gift from God to us. We will recognise their superiority, because the Father is making use of them to give us His love.

Today’s Psalm is supporting us in the faith we offer to the Lord: «in old age they still produce fruit; they are always green and full of sap, showing that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him». Getting old and leaving this world are not scaring us, because our life, even if it becomes increasingly fragile, is still very useful in the kingdom of heaven. So, we will pray as today’s liturgy is suggesting us: “O God, strength of those who hope in you, … since without you mortal frailty can do nothing, grant us always the help of your grace that in following your commands we may please you by our resolve and our deeds”.