The Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time

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June 17, 2018

Ezekiel 17:22-24, Psalm 92; 2 Corinthians 6:6-10; Mark 4:26-34

I’m holding in my hands a small container of seeds that I was given in Bethany on the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem. Our tour guide gave them to me when we left the church that honored Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. We were standing under a tall tree that provided us welcome shade. Of course, it was a tree that produced the mustard seed. When I first looked at it I remarked, “O, it seems larger than I thought because scripture says it is the tiniest of all seeds.” The guide opened a pod where hundreds of the tiniest seeds spilled into my hand. They are indeed small, smaller than grains of sand.

The words of Jesus are evocative because he relates this insignificant seed to the power of our faith and good works. Jesus asks us to reflect upon the mystery and the unknown that are part of our faith. If we think we can control matters of faith, we are thinking wrongly, but if we embrace the Spirit’s power to give shape and meaning to God’s activity in our lives, we just sit back in awe and wonder.

What does this teach us? It teaches us to let go of control because spiritual matters are not up to us. We often try to control people’s behaviors and events, but the simple fact is that control is simply an illusion. If we can accept that truth, we become freer, which helps us cooperate with the Spirit.  

If we are freed from something, then we are likewise freed for something. Pope Francis writes that we are freed for happiness and holiness, which comes about through the Beatitudes. He asks us to do all the little things well and to treat others with mercy and compassion.

Pope Francis writes, “In today’s society, we see a sense of a sense of anxiety, sometimes violent, that distracts and debilitates; negativity and sullenness; the self-content bred by consumerism; individualism; and all those forms of false spirituality that has nothing to do with God.” Our Pope knows the challenges and hardships we face and he wants us to know of his solidarity with us.

To effectively deal with it, we first need the solid grounding in God who loves and sustains us. This source of inner strength enables us to persevere amid life’s ups and downs, but also to endure hostility, betrayal, and failings on the part of others. Our acceptance of God’s love is shown through patience and constancy in doing good, a fidelity born of love. Perseverance, patience, and meekness show to the world that we are receiving God’s love.

If the love of God is the starting place, then we must put ourselves before God wherever we are, whether it is the car, the office, the beach, or our favorite chair or corner of the room, and we have to accept God’s care for us. Too often, for many reasons, we fail to see that we are lovable to God or others. We have to let God turn to us, to look us squarely in the face and deep into our souls, and gaze upon us in admiration and wonder, and simply say, “Wow! You are so beautiful to me. You are astounding, and I created you, and I’m well pleased. You have such a beautiful face, and your soul has so much good in it. Thank you for letting me behold you in amazement. There is no other way that I want to spend my time for you make me very happy.”

With a love like this to start or finish our day, that little seed that God ignites has the enormous power to change the world.

Scripture for Daily Mass

First Reading: 

Monday: (1 Kings 21) When Jezebel learned that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, “Go on, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you, because Naboth is not alive, but dead.” On hearing that Naboth was dead, Ahab started off on his way down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

Tuesday: (1 Kings 21) When Ahab heard these words, he tore his garments and put on sackcloth over his bare flesh. He fasted, slept in the sackcloth, and went about subdued. Then the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, "Have you seen that Ahab has humbled himself before me? Since he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his time. I will bring the evil upon his house during the reign of his son."

Wednesday: (2 Kings 2) Then he picked up Elijah’s mantle that had fallen from him, and went back and stood at the bank of the Jordan. Wielding the mantle that had fallen from Elijah, Elisha struck the water in his turn and said, “Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” When Elisha struck the water it divided and he crossed over.

Thursday: (Sirach 48) Then Elisha, filled with the twofold portion of his spirit, wrought many marvels by his mere word. During his lifetime he feared no one, nor was any man able to intimidate his will. Nothing was beyond his power; beneath him flesh was brought back into life. In life he performed wonders, and after death, marvelous deeds.

Friday (2 Kings 11) Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD as one party and the king and the people as the other, by which they would be the LORD's people; and another covenant, between the king and the people. Thereupon all the people of the land went to the temple of Baal and demolished it.

Saturday (2 Chronicles 24) At the turn of the year a force of Arameans came up against Joash. They invaded Judah and Jerusalem, did away with all the princes of the people, and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus.

Gospel: 

Monday: (Matthew 5) Jesus said to his disciples: "You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow."

Tuesday: (Matthew 5) Jesus said to his disciples: "You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

Wednesday (Matthew 6) Jesus said to his disciples: "Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.

Thursday (Matthew 6) Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Friday (Matthew 6) Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal.

Saturday (Matthew 6) Jesus said to his disciples: "No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Saints of the Week

June 19: Romuald, abbot (950-1027), was born into a family of dukes from Ravenna and became known for founding the Camaldolese Benedictine order that combined the solitary life of hermits into a monastic community life. He founded other hermitages and monasteries throughout Italy.

June 21: Aloysius Gonzaga, S.J., priest (1568-1591), gave up a great inheritance to join the Jesuits in 1585 in his dreams of going to the missions. However, when a plague hit Rome, Gonzaga served the sick and dying in hospitals where he contracted the plague and died within three months. He is a patron saint of youth.

June 22: Paulinus of Nola, bishop (353-431) was a prominent lawyer who married a Spaniard and was baptized. Their infant son died while in Spain. He became a priest and was sent to Nola, near Naples, where he lived a semi-monastic life and helped the poor and pilgrims.

June 22: John Fisher, bishop and martyr (1469-1535) taught theology at Cambridge University and became the University Chancellor and bishop of Rochester. Fisher defended the queen against Henry VIII who wanted the marriage annulled. Fisher refused to sign the Act of Succession. When the Pope made Fisher a cardinal, the angry king beheaded him.

June 22: Thomas More, martyr (1478-1535) was a gifted lawyer, Member of Parliament, scholar, and public official. He was reluctant to serve Cardinal Woolsey at court and he resigned after he opposed the king’s Act of Succession, which would allow him to divorce his wife. He was imprisoned and eventually beheaded.

This Week in Jesuit History

·      Jun 17, 1900. The martyrdom at Wuyi, China, of Blesseds Modeste Andlauer and Remy Asore, slain during the Boxer Rebellion.

·      Jun 18, 1804. Fr. John Roothan, a future general of the Society, left his native Holland at the age of seventeen to join the Society in White Russia.

·      Jun 19, 1558. Fr. Lainez, the Vicar General, summoned the opening of the First General Congregation, nearly two years after the death of Ignatius. Some trouble arose from the fact that Fr. Bobadilla thought himself entitled to some share in the governance. Pope Paul IV ordered that the Institute of the Society should be strictly adhered to.

·      Jun 20, 1626. The martyrdom in Nagasaki, Japan, of Blesseds Francis Pacheco, John Baptist Zola, Vincent Caun, Balthasar De Torres, Michael Tozo, Gaspar Sadamatzu, John Kinsaco, Paul Xinsuki, and Peter Rinscei.

·      Jun 21, 1591. The death of St Aloysius Gonzaga, who died from the plague, which he caught while attending the sick.

·      Jun 22, 1611. The first arrival of the Jesuit fathers in Canada, sent there at the request of Henry IV of France.

·      Jun 23, 1967. Saint Louis University's Board of Trustees gathered at Fordyce House for the first meeting of the expanded Board of Trustees. SLU was the first Catholic university to establish a Board of Trustees with a majority of lay members.