When Jesus started his mission, he did it with the following words: “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mk 1:14).

In today’s gospel Jesus compares the kingdom of God with a seed that is either thrown on the land or with a mustard seed that grows into a tree.
Both parables have in common that the beginning is very small and the growth of the plant is more or less out of our control. It is God who makes the seed growing into a rich harvest or a tree.

As Christians we are invited to sow the seed and maybe water the growing plant from time to time, but the growing itself of the plant is God’s work, it is beyond our control. The kingdom of God as Jesus told us, is coming, it is already close to us, we cannot stop it. Through our actions or inaction we may slow it down but in the end the kingdom of God will prevail. It is a kingdom of goodness, of love, of compassion; no evil in the world is able to overcome that.

P. Stephan Gerdes, SVD