11th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B - The Mustard Seed & “Let There Be Peace On Earth”
In the cryptic message of the prophet Ezekiel (Ez. 17:22-24), long centuries before the Lord’s coming, God gave His people reason to hope.
Ezekiel glimpsed a day when the Lord God would place a tree on a mountain in Israel, a tree that would “put forth branches and bear fruit.” Who could have predicted that the tree would be a cross on the hill of Calvary, and that the fruit would be salvation? Ezekiel foresees salvation coming to “birds of every kind”—thus, not just to the people of Israel, but also to the Gentiles who will “take wing” through their new life in Christ. God indeed will “lift high the lowly tree,” as He solemnly promises. Such salvation surpasses humanity’s most ambitious dreams.
And so we express our gratitude in this weekend’s Psalm (Ps.92): “Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.” The Psalmist speaks of those who are just upon the earth, but looks to God as the source and measure of justice, of righteousness. Like Ezekiel, he evokes the image of a flourishing tree to describe the lives of the just. The image, again, suggests the Cross as the measure of righteousness.
In the Gospel (Mk. 4:26-34), Jesus shares the parable of the mustard seed that springs up and becomes ‘the greatest of all shrubs’, large enough to accommodate all the birds of the sky, just as Ezekiel had seen. He gave this doctrine to his disciples in terms they were able to understand, and he provided a full explanation. In the sacraments he provides still more: the grace of faith and the courage we need to live in the world as children of God. May we meditate on this weekend’s readings, and each do our part to spread God’s love in the world so that all ‘birds of the sky’ may co-exist in peace and harmony.
This weekend, we are honored to present our latest video, "Let There Be Peace On Earth", a song written by Jill Jackson-Miller and Sy Miller in 1955 calling for world peace and understanding, and inspired by "...the life-saving joy of God's peace and unconditional love".
The song is performed worldwide throughout the year, and particularly during the Christmas season. It is included in the hymnals of a variety of Christian denominations (including Catholic hymnals).
Video can be watched by clicking here or on the picture below:
