Friday, January 30, 2026

 

Friday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

(II Samuel 11:1-4a.5-10a.13-17; Mark 4:26-34)

 The “Kingdom of God” is a poetic way of saying “God.”  What is God like?  Jesus gives a partial answer to this perennial question with today’s parables. He is like a mysterious power that makes things happen for human benefit.

There is no patent on the beginning of life. No one knows how exactly life first came about.  In today’s gospel Jesus attributes its coming to be to God’s acting in the world.  “The Kingdom of God” typically acting quietly, he says, describes how biological life came about. 

More than this, Jesus explains life’s blessings with another parable of God’s Kingdom.  He states that God’s Kingdom has the power to turn a tiny mustard seed into a giant mustard plant.  The product provides nutrition and repose to a multitude of birds.  One might make her own parable here.  God’s kingdom is the dynamic force that turned a little Georgian restaurant into the ubiquitous luncheon enterprise known as “Chick Fil A.”

The parables of the Kingdom inspire us to consider God’s goodness.  More than that, they encourage us to act so that we might benefit from its prodigious effects.

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