ELEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
16 JUNE 2024
In
his second letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul defends his ministry. After he had left, critics have stood up to debate
his authority. They have criticized his
preaching. They have dismissed his
abilities and trashed his reputation. In
response, he points to Jesus, crucified and risen. Just as Jesus was criticized and rejected,
Saint Paul faces the same treatment. Like
Jesus, he is sustained by the same power of the Father, giving hope. He walks by faith, not by sight.
In this
letter, he uses three metaphors. First,
he describes his physical body as a tent.
While the Lord may dwell in a huge mansion in heaven, Paul’s tired and
weary body is more like a tent. It is
temporary, not permanent. His second
metaphor is that of clothing. He has put
on Christ when he was baptized. In his
travels, that clothing has been torn and worn out by those who reject his
message. So, Paul longs for a new body,
a “new set of clothes” given by Christ to those who die with him. Finally, Paul uses the metaphor of
“home.” As Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul
has been confident in his strong relationship with the Lord. But, he longs for a home where he will see
the Lord face to face. Once he has died,
he will see face to face the Savior he has loved. For Paul, this is the profound joy of the
Gospel. This hope has sustained him
through all the troubles of his ministry.
In the
Gospel, Jesus also uses metaphors to give his disciples hope. He tells parables that are agricultural. The first connects the Kingdom with a reality
understood by his rural listeners. The
Kingdom is like a seed planted in the earth.
It has already been planted in their midst. Even though his disciples must work to
cultivate the kingdom, it continues to grow on its own. As the kingdom will continue to grow and
yields its fruit, it becomes more visible, like the blade, the ear, and then
the full grain. The kingdom of God will
continue to grow in human history, until the grain is ripe and ready for the
final judgment at the end of time. It is
God’s work, not ours.
The second
metaphor is that of a mustard seed. The mustard
seed is tiny annual that has been sown into the ground. In the first century, farmers would have
recognized its medicinal properties.
Despite its tiny size, it puts forth large branches. In this parable, Jesus assures his small band
of disciples, as insignificant as they may be, that they will continue to grow
and become a powerful sign of the Kingdom of God. In fact, the growth of the Kingdom will
attract converts from every nation to become like birds dwelling in its shade.
When Saint
Mark wrote his Gospel, these parables provided hope for its first readers. They were being persecuted for their faith in
Christ and found his passion and death difficult to understand. His parables did for them what Saint Paul’s
metaphors did for him. No matter how
much opposition they faced, no matter how many difficulties they endured, the
Risen Lord remained with them and continued to remind them of the Kingdom
already in their midst.
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