Reading 1 2 Sm 1:1-4a, 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 Ps 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.
Gospel Mk 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.
Meditation: Mark 4:26-34
Of its own accord the land yields fruit.” (Mark 4:28)
If you’ve ever planted a seed in a garden or even in a pot inside your home, you can probably remember the day that seed sprouted and poked up through the soil. If you’re watching a farmer’s field, one day it will seem to be a patch of brown dirt, and the next day it’s covered with delicate new plants. No one knows exactly when it will happen, and the farmer may wonder if all the seeds he planted will ever germinate. But given the warmth and moisture of the soil, those seeds will come up!
Jesus says evangelization is a lot like watching a garden. Our job is to plant the seeds, not to worry about when they will sprout. We may not know how people will react to our witness. But we can be sure that no seed sown will end up fruitless! God even guarantees that his word will go forth and accomplish the purpose for which he sent it out (Isaiah 55:11).
We can’t control the mystery of conversion. Once we sow the seed of God’s word, no matter how much we may want to hurry things along, it remains God’s work! Conversion doesn’t depend on our ability to tell a good story or give a good witness. It depends on the mystery of God’s revelation in the secret place of each person’s heart. In the same way that Jesus told parables, knowing that people would hear them differently and respond to them differently, we know that our love and service and witness to others will elicit different responses. But even if we can’t see the growth, Jesus assures us that our work of sowing seeds will indeed bear fruit.
So what do we do? Keep sowing! Keep praying for people! Keep looking for opportunities to share God’s work in your life! Keep giving of yourself, letting your life tell the story of Jesus. Then just trust God to take those seeds and make them grow, bearing fruit for his kingdom!
“Lord, thank you for your work in my life! Thank you for making the seed of faith sprout and grow in me, bringing me to conversion. Now teach me how to sow these same seeds in other people’s lives so that you may draw them to yourself.”
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