DAILY GOSPEL 
Friday, 3rd week of Ordinary Time.

Parables of the seed and the mustard seed  
Mk 4:26–34

Jesus said to the crowds: “This is how it is with the Kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.” 
He said, “To what shall we compare the Kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.” With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it. Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.

SHORT COMMENTARY

Jesus is telling his disciples about the Church (=Kingdom of God on earth which began tiny): the preaching of the Gospel, which is the generously sown seed, will unfailingly yield its fruit, independently of who sows or who reaps: it is God who gives the growth (cf. 1 Cor 3:5-9). By day and by night, the seed grows without the sower knowing how.

• The work of God is carried out notwithstanding human limitations. It has a force effective by itself. How is it possible for the Church to spread rapidly throughout the world through means which are so poor both from the personal and instrumental viewpoints? Where does her strength to resist and overcome such great persecutions as those that at first She suffered from the Jews, then from the Romans and now from so many enemies of the Gospel of Christ, come from?
• Saint Ambrose replies: “It is a normal thing that, in the middle of this hectic world, the Church of the Lord, built on the foundationn of the Apostles, remains stable and stands firm on this unbreakable base against the furious assaults of the sea (Mt. 16, 18) She is surrounded by the waves, but she does not wobble, and although the elements of this world reverberate with an immense clamor, she, nevertheless, offers those who are distressed the great security of a port of salvation ” (Letter 2, 1-2)
• And St. John Chrysostom: “The ship of Jesus can not sink … The waves do not break the rock, but they themselves become foam … Nothing is stronger than the Church .. It is useless to fight against heaven, God is always the strongest “(Homily before exile).

The Kingdom of God also refers to the action of grace in each soul. God silently works a transformation in us, counting on our correspondence, until we reach “maturity in Christ” (cf. Eph 4:13). Even though God expects us to do our part, the real initiative lies with Him, “because it is the Holy Spirit who, with his inspirations, gives a supernatural tone to our thoughts, desires and actions. It is he who leads us to receive Christ’s teaching and to assimilate it in a profound way. It is he who gives us the light by which we perceive our personal calling and the strength to carry out all that God expects of us. If we are docile to the Holy Spirit, the image of Christ will be found more and more fully in us, and we will be brought closer every day to God the Father. ‘For whoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the children of God’ (Rom 8:14)” ( St. Josemaria Escrivá, Christ is passing by, 135).

POPE FRANCIS’ ANGELUS SPEECH ON THE PARABLE OF THE SEED AND THE MUSTARD SEED.

Dear brothers and sisters, Good morning!

Today’s Gospel is composed of two very brief parables: that of the seed that sprouts and grows on its own, and that of the mustard seed (cf. Mk 4:26-34). Through these images taken from the rural world, Jesus presents the efficacy of the Word of God and the requirements of his Kingdom, showing the reasons for our hope and our commitment in history.

In the first parable, attention is placed on the fact that the seed scattered on the ground (v. 26) takes root and develops on its own, regardless of whether the farmer sleeps or keeps watch. He is confident in the inner power of the seed itself and in the fertility of the soil. In the language of the Gospel, the seed is the symbol of the Word of God, whose fruitfulness is recalled in this parable. As the humble seed grows in the earth, so too does the Word by the power of God work in the hearts of those who listen to it. God has entrusted his Word to our earth, that is to each one of us with our concrete humanity. We can be confident because the Word of God is a creative word, destined to become the “full grain in the ear” (v. 28). This Word, if accepted, certainly bears fruit, for God Himself makes it sprout and grow in ways that we cannot always verify or understand. (cf. v. 27). All this tells us that it is always God, it is always God who makes his Kingdom grow. That is why we fervently pray “thy Kingdom come”. It is He who makes it grow. Man is his humble collaborator, who contemplates and rejoices in divine creative action and waits patiently for its fruits.

The Word of God makes things grow, it gives life. And here, I would like to remind you once again, of the importance of having the Gospel, the Bible, close at hand. A small Gospel in your purse, in your pocket and to nourish yourselves every day with this living Word of God. Read a passage from the Gospel every day, a passage from the Bible. Please don’t ever forget this. Because this is the power that makes the life of the Kingdom of God sprout within us.

The second parable uses the image of the mustard seed. Despite being the smallest of all the seeds, it is full of life and grows until it becomes “the greatest of all shrubs” (Mk 4:32). And thus is the Kingdom of God: a humanly small and seemingly irrelevant reality. To become a part of it, one must be poor of heart; not trusting in their own abilities, but in the power of the love of God; not acting to be important in the eyes of the world, but precious in the eyes of God, who prefers the simple and the humble. When we live like this, the strength of Christ bursts through us and transforms what is small and modest into a reality that leavens the entire mass of the world and of history.

An important lesson comes to us from these two parables: God’s Kingdom requires our cooperation, but it is above all the initiative and gift of the Lord. Our weak effort, seemingly small before the complexity of the problems of the world, when integrated with God’s effort, fears no difficulty. The victory of the Lord is certain: his love will make every seed of goodness present on the ground sprout and grow. This opens us up to trust and hope, despite the tragedies, the injustices, the sufferings that we encounter. The seed of goodness and peace sprouts and develops, because the merciful love of God makes it ripen.

May the Holy Virgin, who like “fertile ground” received the seed of the divine Word, sustain us in this hope which never disappoints.

SOURCE: http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/angelus/2015/documents/papa-francesco_angelus_20150614.html