Fr Kevin Kilgore

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Mark 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.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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In April 2020, a ninety-nine-year-old British World War Two veteran, Captain Tom Moore, wanted to raise money to support people who became ill with COVID-19.

He promised to walk one-hundred laps around his garden with his walker before his 100^th birthday, only a few weeks away.

His goal was $1,250. Then his story went viral. In all, Captain Tom captivated the hearts of 1.5 million people, raising over $40 million!

What started as a humble effort to help a neighbor in need exploded into a global obsession.

Captain Tom’s story reminds us that God works in mysterious ways, often using simple ideas and ordinary people – mustard seeds – to change the world.

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Jesus did the same. He set the world on fire with the call of Saint Peter, then the other eleven Apostles. Two-thousand years later, the Church has grown by more than 1 million percent!

The power of a mustard seed.

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Or consider what’s happened in our own parish.

A year ago, our soup kitchen was closed. Then a mustard seed was planted. Three people joined. Then four. Then five. Today we have over twenty volunteers who feed the hungry among us!

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A ninety-nine-year-old man raises $40 million.

The Church grows by one-million percent.

Our own parish experiences renewal.

It all begins with a mustard seed.

Imagine what the Lord can do through you.

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Image credits: (1) Desert Streams Ministries (2) Captain Tom Moore, Wikipedia (3) Herbal Academy

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Gospel: Mark 4:1-20

On another occasion, Jesus began to teach by the sea.
A very large crowd gathered around him 
so that he got into a boat on the sea and sat down.
And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land.
And he taught them at length in parables, 
and in the course of his instruction he said to them, 
“Hear this! A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, 
and the birds came and ate it up.
Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil.
It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep.
And when the sun rose, it was scorched and it withered for lack of roots.  
Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it 
and it produced no grain.
And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit.
It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
He added, “Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”

And when he was alone, 
those present along with the Twelve 
questioned him about the parables.
He answered them, 
“The mystery of the Kingdom of God has been granted to you.
But to those outside everything comes in parables, so that
they may look and see but not perceive,
and hear and listen but not understand,
in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven.”

Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable?
Then how will you understand any of the parables?
The sower sows the word.
These are the ones on the path where the word is sown.
As soon as they hear, Satan comes at once
and takes away the word sown in them.
And these are the ones sown on rocky ground who,
when they hear the word, receive it at once with joy.
But they have no roots; they last only for a time.
Then when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word,
they quickly fall away.
Those sown among thorns are another sort.
They are the people who hear the word,
but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches,
and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word,
and it bears no fruit.
But those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it
and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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I’m sure we all want our hearts filled with that fertile soil which Jesus blesses in today’s Gospel. It bears thirty, sixty, or a hundred-fold.

But fertile soil is only fertile because it has first been wounded.

Think about it.

In order to make soil fertile, you must break it open, crush it, and repeatedly separate it. Only after this set period of chaos, is the ground ready to receive life.

And when placed inside that soft, broken ground, seeds begin to grow. Some become strong, sturdy plants. Any plant that bears good fruit was once a tiny seed placed inside broken, fertile soil.

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The same is true with us.

When we experience heartache or sorrow, our hearts are broken like fertile soil. That wound within will bear fruit – thirty, sixty, or a hundred-fold.

But Jesus tells us that we have a say in what type of fruit that will be. 

Without faith, our hearts can dry up like dirt, leading to bitterness and anger.                         

But with faith, we can mysteriously begin to bear good fruit – thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold.  

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For example, knowing the sorrow that death brings, can allow us to minister to others in a more compassionate way. 

Knowing the twinge of hunger can motivate us to feed others.

Knowing the ache of desolation can inspire us to pray for others, whose inner well has run dry. 

In the words of one spiritual writer, Jesus can transform us into, “wounded healers.” I know from my own experience, God has used the more painful experiences in my life to make me a more empathetic, merciful minister.

May the Lord take whatever is broken within us and bless it, so that we can bear good fruit – thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold.

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Image credits: (1) A Call to Men (2) Fertile Fields, by Scott Cameron (3) SJB School on Twitter

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Acts 22:3-16

Paul addressed the people in these words:
“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia,
but brought up in this city.
At the feet of Gamaliel I was educated strictly in our ancestral law
and was zealous for God, just as all of you are today.
I persecuted this Way to death,
binding both men and women and delivering them to prison.
Even the high priest and the whole council of elders
can testify on my behalf.
For from them I even received letters to the brothers
and set out for Damascus to bring back to Jerusalem
in chains for punishment those there as well.

“On that journey as I drew near to Damascus,
about noon a great light from the sky suddenly shone around me.
I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me,
‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’
I replied, ‘Who are you, sir?’
And he said to me,
‘I am Jesus the Nazorean whom you are persecuting.’
My companions saw the light
but did not hear the voice of the one who spoke to me.
I asked, ‘What shall I do, sir?’
The Lord answered me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus,
and there you will be told about everything
appointed for you to do.’ 
Since I could see nothing because of the brightness of that light,
I was led by hand by my companions and entered Damascus.

“A certain Ananias, a devout observer of the law,
and highly spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,
came to me and stood there and said,
‘Saul, my brother, regain your sight.’
And at that very moment I regained my sight and saw him.
Then he said,
‘The God of our ancestors designated you to know his will,
to see the Righteous One, and to hear the sound of his voice;
for you will be his witness before all
to what you have seen and heard.
Now, why delay?
Get up and have yourself baptized and your sins washed away,
calling upon his name.’”

The Word of the Lord.

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I read a line recently, “If you were put on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?”

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I’ve not thought about my faith journey in those terms before – needing evidence to prove I’m a Christian. But if anyone were to be put on trial for our faith, as it were, then Saint Paul would be the easiest to convict.

Consider the evidence: 

He’s claimed to see the Risen Lord; his thirteen pastoral letters account for nearly one-half of the New Testament; he is one of the most travelled missionaries in history; he established some of the very first Christian communities.

And he was beaten, stoned, imprisoned, shipwrecked, and left for dead more than once after preaching about his love for Jesus.

Paul didn’t conceal his faith. He was determined to share it, no matter what the cost.

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What about me? What “evidence” might there be to show I’m a Christian?

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Only God knows it all. 

But give others a reason to call you a Christian today.

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Image credits: (1) Inspirational Wall Decal, Amazon.com (2) Conversion of St. Paul, Caravaggio (3) St. Teresa of Calcutta