Dear Parishioners,
In the early years of baseball, there weren’t any large concrete stadiums. There was only a grandstand with a board fence enclosing the outfield. Sometimes the board fence had a knothole in it, and children would stand around it to get a free glimpse of the game.
A knothole didn’t offer a good view of the game but it was good enough to give an idea of what was going on. Some ballpark fences had several knotholes — one in left field, one in center field and another in right field. By moving from one to the other, you could get different views of the game.
The parables of Jesus are a lot like knotholes in a ballpark fence. They give you a glimpse of God’s Kingdom. Parables don’t give you a good view of it, but they’re good enough to give you an idea of what the Kingdom is like.
Mark’s Gospel contains three different parables about God’s Kingdom. By moving from one to the other, you can get three different views of the Kingdom.
The first parable tells about a farmer who planted seed, some in good soil and some in bad.Only the seed in good soil bore fruit. The second parable, which we read in today’s Gospel, tells how seed grows beneath the soil without the farmer knowing about it. The third parable, which we also read in today’s Gospel, contrasts the tiny seed to the large beautiful plant that grows from it.
Each of these parables gives us an insight into God’s Kingdom. The first parable reveals that the Kingdom grows in good hearts -- hearts that are open to it. The second reveals that God’s Kingdom grows in our heart in a wonderful, mysterious way, without our knowing how. The third parable reveals that the tiny seed of the Kingdom in our heart will eventually grow into something incredibly beautiful.
Sincerely in Christ,
Father Dominick