29 January 2021

Friday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

There is a certain spiritual temptation we can fall into as Christians when our zeal to see the fruits of God’s Kingdom leads us to try and bring it about by our own power and effort. This temptation manifests itself in quite different ways, and can be seen in both the desire of some to establish the perfectly just, utopian society, as well as the desire of others to establish the ideal Christian community through perfecting the liturgy, to give only two examples. Of course, neither attention to social issues nor a desire for a reverent liturgy are evil; the trouble comes when we fixate on a particular solution and try to bring it about on our own.

The parable of the seed’s growth in the first part of today’s Gospel (Mark 4:26-34) serves as an antidote to this temptation. The man who scatters the seed “knows not how” it sprouts and grows, since “[o]f its own accord the land yields fruit.” God’s grace is the ultimate driving power in the growth of the harvest, so we should seek to cultivate that spirit of indifference and indeed wonder at the way God brings about his plan, all the while striving no less zealously to do the Lord’s will. Today, we can reflect on our own attitudes and desires, asking the Lord to reveal any areas of unfreedom we have and begging his grace to proceed in the spirit of indifference and trust.