Homily for 13th June 2021

Today Jesus is telling us two parables. In the first, we hear about a farmer who is sowing. He does not use a machine to sow, but scatters the seeds by hand. And when he has finished, he goes home to have his tea. The sower has played his part. The seed sprouts by itself, it becomes a shoot, which becomes a plant, and the plant will bear fruit.

The sower needs to be patient and to trust because nature has its own rhythm.

In the second parable we hear about a small seed, a mustard seed. It is very small, yet once it is sown, it can become a big shrub with branches, on which the birds can rest.

Both parables of Jesus are uplifting: God is at work! God is at work in our lives, God is at work in the Church and God is at work outside the Church. We do not always understand how, but God is at work and is able to turn something insignificant into something substantial.

The words of Jesus invite us to trust and to be patient, because just as nature has its own rhythm, God has God's own time.

What is our role? If the field is prepared, but there is no one to sow, there will be no harvest. There would only be weeds. Our role is to sow: to sow an encouraging word, maybe just a smile, to sow actions of service and love, to sow our witness as followers of Jesus.

Tomorrow four children of St Vincent's Primary School will be baptised in our parish. They are not infants, they are pupils of year 4 and 5, who themselves asked to be baptised. It was the words and the witness of their class-mates that inspired them.

That was the seed. The witness of their class-mates sprouted in their hearts and became a desire to be baptised. Tomorrow their desire will become a reality and we hope that the plant will continue to develop and grow into a life of service and witness. Yes, God is at work! The witness of these four children may inspire and attract others...

Pope Francis recently said: "The church grows by attraction. And who provokes attraction? The Holy Spirit!"

Besides sowing, as Christians we still have another role to play, this is to collaborate with God and God's Spirit. When these four children felt the desire to be baptised, fear or shame could have taken the upper hand and made the desire die.

No, we want to collaborate with the Spirit, and overcome fear and resistance. We want to listen to the Spirit who speaks in us and through others.  In this way the Kingdom will grow in us and around us.

Fr. Ferdinand