The encounter with the Word is a gift from God, but the response to it depends on the will and in the interest of each one.
In the first parable of today, we have the exposition of how the Reign expands with a strength that does not depend on humans, but is from God Himself. We would be able to say that the word describes its own inner strength.
In the second parable, we encounter the external vision of the Kingdom. Its growth will be spectacular, from an insignificant group – as is the mustard seed which looks like the head of a pin – until it is a tree, that [even the birds can dwell in its shade.]
A certainty is evident: The Reign is a reality that cannot be ignored. But in what does it consist? Jesus does not reveal his essence, but, due to the name, we are inclined to affirm that the Reign, as new institution, is an irruption of the presence of God in the human history.
In the epoch, in which external revolution and fight through the power were united to a religious theocracy, it was dangerous to announce the true nature of the Reign. So that only the eternal qualities of him have been described in the way of not raising violent reactions. The Reign will suffer violence, but will not be the source of violence.
In this parable, Jesus encourages the hope of his community. Which is the similarity between the Reign of God and a grain of mustard? Both appear to be almost nothing, insignificant in the beginning, but in the end they become huge.
Now, we may see our reality. we can say that we live in a society characterized by instant culture and of spectacle, for which the proposal of a Reign that in the beginning is tiny, but grows slowly almost unperceivably, it is, without doubt. counter cultural. Therefore, the parables of Jesus are an invitation, or better, a daring proposal that requires the response of the listeners. In the first place, it invites us to raise our eyes and to see the fields, They are ready for harvest, He proposes to us to discover what is already growing slowly, flowering silently and even giving fruit around us.
“Father, give me the sensibility to perceive Your Reign happening among us, where we fight for the construction of a society more human and fraternal.”
Father Bantu Mendonça
Fr. Bantu Mendonça Katchipwi Sayla is a priest for the Diocese of Tubarão, Angola
His YouTube Page is: http://www.youtube.com/user/bamksayla (Portuguese)