Friday of the Third Week of Ordinary Time

The Kingdom Grows Quietly

Liturgical Cycle: A | Lectionary Cycle: I

Introduction

We hear for the first time that the “Hebrews” for whom this letter was destined had to undergo persecution and various difficulties for following Christ. The author encourages them vividly to persevere in their faith, for God is faithful to his promises.

The kingdom of God does not irrupt in our human world with extraordinary signs and power. It is a patient, modest growth, beginning with a tiny seed in the personal salvation history of every person, in the salvation history of humankind. It is constantly threatened by sin, which is the refusal to grow.

Blessed Gabriele Maria Allegra was a Franciscan priest who came to China in 1931 and pursued his aspiration to translate the Bible into Chinese. He moved to Hong Kong in 1948 and continued with his work on the translation. In 1968, the first complete translation of the Catholic Chinese Bible was published in Hong Kong and across greater China. As a result, he has come to be known as “St. Jerome of China.”

Opening Prayer

Patient God,
curb our impatience when we try to impose
your truth and justice and peace
on a world and even a Church
not yet disposed to welcome them.
In our helplessness and discouragement
may we come to accept
that all true growth comes from you.
We can only plant the seed:
make it bloom into a mighty tree that shelters many.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.

First Reading

2 Samuel 11:1-4a, 5-10a, 13-17

At the turn of the year, when kings go out on campaign,
David sent out Joab along with his officers
and the army of Israel,
and they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah.
David, however, remained in Jerusalem.
One evening David rose from his siesta
and strolled about on the roof of the palace.
From the roof he saw a woman bathing, who was very beautiful.
David had inquiries made about the woman and was told,
“She is Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam,
and wife of Joab’s armor bearer Uriah the Hittite.”
Then David sent messengers and took her.
When she came to him, he had relations with her.
She then returned to her house.
But the woman had conceived,
and sent the information to David, “I am with child.”

David therefore sent a message to Joab,
“Send me Uriah the Hittite.”
So Joab sent Uriah to David.
When he came, David questioned him about Joab, the soldiers,
and how the war was going, and Uriah answered that all was well.
David then said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and bathe your feet.”
Uriah left the palace,
and a portion was sent out after him from the king’s table.
But Uriah slept at the entrance of the royal palace
with the other officers of his lord, and did not go down
to his own house.
David was told that Uriah had not gone home.
On the day following, David summoned him,
and he ate and drank with David, who made him drunk.
But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his bed
among his lord’s servants, and did not go down to his home.
The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab
which he sent by Uriah.
In it he directed:
“Place Uriah up front, where the fighting is fierce.
Then pull back and leave him to be struck down dead.”
So while Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah
to a place where he knew the defenders were strong.
When the men of the city made a sortie against Joab,
some officers of David’s army fell,
and among them Uriah the Hittite died.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6a, 6bcd-7, 10-11

R.   (see 3a) Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R.   Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
“Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight.”
R.   Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
I have done such evil in your sight
that you are just in your sentence,
blameless when you condemn.
True, I was born guilty,
a sinner, even as my mother conceived me.
R.   Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness;
the bones you have crushed shall rejoice.
Turn away your face from my sins,
and blot out all my guilt.
R.   Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

Alleluia Verse

Matthew 11:25

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

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.

Prayers of the Faithful

– That the tiny spark of faith still alive in the hearts of many who abandon the Church may not be extinguished, but grow again onto a bright light renewing their life, we pray:

– That our schools may implant into the hearts of our youth the seeds of faith, of generous and serving love, and that the Lord may bless the educators in their tremendous task, we pray:

– That missionaries may keep sowing the seed of the joyful Good News of the Lord in our often indifferent and hostile world, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

Almighty and patient God,
we bring before you the fruits
grown from tiny seeds of wheat
and the small shoots of the vine.
By the power of your Spirit,
they will become Jesus among us.
Let the seed of his life and message
bear fruit among us, your people,
and make us the body of Christ to the world,
that trust and hope may grow among all.

We ask you this through Christ, our Lord.

Prayer after Communion

God our Father,
with your generous hand you have sown
among us here in this Eucharist
the seed of all that is good and true,
your Son, Jesus Christ.
However, insignificant and disappointing
our faith and love may seem now,
give us the hope and the courage
that he can unite us into a community
where truth and justice and freedom will prevail,
until the crop is ready for the reaping
in your own good time.
Grant this through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Blessing

Patience and a sense of humble modesty are needed when we do God’s work. He sows, he plants, and he gives growth. He will do the harvesting. But he expects us to cooperate with him. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

REFLECTIONS

Mark 4: 26-34

Faithful Patience

In this year of Jubilee, the Gospel reminds us of the Kingdom of God through the image of the seed (cf. Mk 4:26-34). Jesus often speaks of the seed, and today, he highlights a vital virtue: confident expectation.

A farmer sows seeds with care, but growth requires time and patience. Beneath the surface, a miraculous transformation occurs unseen as the seeds sprout and mature into a fruitful harvest. This process calls for trust in God’s timing and diligent care, even when immediate results are not visible.

The Kingdom of God unfolds in a similar way. The Lord sows abundant seeds of his Word and grace within us, patiently nurturing their growth. His divine patience allows us the time and space to mature, bearing the fruit of good works. In this Jubilee year, we are reminded that God desires all of us to grow into the fullness of His love, ensuring that no seed is lost.

This example of patient care is a call for us to sow the Gospel wherever we are, with confidence and perseverance. Even when progress is invisible, the Lord invites us to trust that the miracle of transformation is already underway. We must resist discouragement and remain steadfast in supporting one another in faith, trusting that God's grace is always at work.

In this Jubilee, we ask: Do we welcome the Word into our hearts? Do we sow the Gospel confidently in our lives? Can we wait with hope, entrusting the results to the Lord?

May the Blessed Virgin Mary, who received and nurtured the Word within her, inspire us to be patient and faithful sowers of the Gospel, trusting in God’s promise of an abundant harvest in His time.

Faithful Patience - Youtube

Lest We Fall

Sin does not happen overnight; it creeps in incrementally into our spiritual entrails through the little openings we leave unguarded. David’s twin-sins did not happen overnight. He let them in gradually, by compromising commitment to duty. When his armies were fighting battle, instead of being bravely present with them, he remained in his cosy palace. While his soldiers were dying, he was enjoying his afternoon siesta, followed by a leisurely walk. While his men would not even dream of spousal bed, David’s eyes were already committing adultery with a woman… No wonder his fall was so terrible! We may not and need not know the mysteries of the Kingdom and its growth within us—that is God’s work. But the least we can and must do is to keep the land fertile and well-guarded from inimical forces, so that the Kingdom can sprout and produce a good harvest.

Reflection taken from Bible Diary 2022; written by Fr. Paulson Velyannoor, CMF