Friday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time
(Hebrews
10:32-39; Mark 4:26-34)
Every year
for the last forty-seven years, thousands of demonstrators come to Washington for
the March for Life. The demonstration proposes
“to end abortion by uniting, educating, and mobilizing pro-life people.” The magnitude of the march has varied through
the years, but the tendency is to have increasing numbers. Demonstrators have a sense of joy and comradeship. It exemplifies the kingdom of God which Jesus
parabolizes in today’s gospel.
Jesus says
that the kingdom begins as something small like a seed of grain. Once planted, however, it grows giving
sustenance like wheat or comfort like a mustard tree. The kingdom is God’s presence that both touches
and satisfies us. Corporately, the
kingdom brings peace and joy. Individually, it blossoms into eternal life.
We might
see Jesus himself as the kingdom. He
offers his friendship to us through the sacraments. He makes our life easier because he helps us
to do what is right. He makes death a
joy, once we get beyond the dying. Then
he will welcome us into eternal life.
