11th
Sunday in Ordinary Time
year B
Los Angeles, June 16th
–
17th, 2012
1st
Reading: from
the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel 17,22-24
Psalm
: 91(92)2-3,13-14,15-16
2º Reading:2nd
letter from St Paul to the Corinthians 5:6-10
Gospel: Saint Mark 4,26-34
For some time the Church has been celebrating. We have celebrated Ash
Wednesday, Lent, Holy Week, the Easter Vigil, Easter, the Ascension of the
Lord, Pentecost and, last Sunday, the solemnity of the Body and Blood of
Christ.
Now we are returning to Ordinary Time. We need to come back to the daily
liturgy, the faith of everyday.
And to help us, the liturgy proposes some texts that invite us to live
with confidence because we are in the Church, under the tree that God planted.
As the prophet Ezekiel in the first reading wrote, we live in the Kingdom of
God which grows among us even if sometimes we are unaware of its development.
During this week and during this time of oncoming holidays let’s
remember to live with confidence, let’s participate in the life of the Church,
and let’s pay attention to the signs of the growth of the Kingdom of God among
us.
The prophet Ezekiel announced that God would plant a magnificent cedar
under which all will make their nests, all will live under the shadow of its
branches and all will find fruit. This tree is the Church. The Church is the
community in which everyone should feel at home, the family in which all share
their joys and sorrows, the house where everyone is welcome to be responsible
and to beautify the places and activities with their presence and commitment.
We are the Church and the Church is what we make of it. Let’s understand
that we all are part of the Church and that we all have a responsibility in the
development and life of our nearby local Church which welcomes us when we need
a prayer, a sacrament, a blessing, or advice.
If the Church we attend is welcoming and open it is because you and I
are friendly and open. If the liturgy of the Church we attend is joyful and
pious it is because you and I take time to prepare it and because we
participate in it with joy and conviction.
Let’s live with confidence because Christ is with us. Let’s live with
confidence because the Spirit of God breathes in our communities and helps us
to changes our routine and slowness.
Thanks to everyone involved in one way or another in the life of the
community, in the growth of the Kingdom of God.
I invite all who still are only consumers, all who still don’t know that
the Church has a mission for them, to wake up and let themselves be enlivened
by the Spirit of God and to participate actively in the life of the family of
God.
Let’s have confidence. God is calling us to participate in the building
up of his Church.
Amen.
Fr.
Germán