{"id":1621,"date":"2015-06-14T21:54:51","date_gmt":"2015-06-15T01:54:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=1621"},"modified":"2015-06-14T21:54:51","modified_gmt":"2015-06-15T01:54:51","slug":"11th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b-homily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/11th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b-homily\/","title":{"rendered":"11th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"

11th<\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B<\/a>
\nEzekiel 17:22-24
\n2 Corinthians 5:6-10
\nMark 4:26-34
\nJune 14, 2015<\/p>\n

Ezekiel serves as a prophet of God some six hundred years before the birth of Jesus.\u00a0 It is a time when the people have turned away from God.\u00a0 For this God has allowed their enemies from Babylon to defeat them.\u00a0 Many, Ezekiel among them, are taken away in exile to Babylon.<\/p>\n

Israel had thought themselves to be a great people but they failed to recognize God as the source of their greatness.\u00a0 They fell away in faith.\u00a0 They realized the error of their ways while in exile but feared it was too late.<\/p>\n

It was in their repentance from their sins that God speaks to them through Ezekiel.\u00a0 He tells them that He will \u201ctear off a tender shoot and plant it on a high and lofty mountain.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Most immediately this is fulfilled when God brings the Exile to an end and allows the Israelites to return home.\u00a0 Even for that they people would have to wait as the Exile lasted nearly seventy years but there is a deeper fulfillment.<\/p>\n

When God set the Israelites free from the Babylonians and allowed the Israelites to return home, it was a simple \u201cgoing back\u201d to what was but the Kingdom of Israel was never restored to what it used to be.<\/p>\n

Over five centuries later Jesus came to form a new covenant with the people.\u00a0 He comes to show us what it truly means to be a people of God.<\/p>\n

500 or 600 years can seem like a long time to wait.\u00a0 Obviously, no one person can wait that long but we shouldn\u2019t interpret it as God not doing anything for that time.<\/p>\n

God is always at work for our salvation.\u00a0 God continued to send prophets and inspire people to a great faith.\u00a0 Through Him, God continues to plant seeds of faith.<\/p>\n

Jesus offers us a parable about the farmer plants the seeds and waits<\/em>.\u00a0 We like instant results but it isn\u2019t always to be had.\u00a0 The farmer knew if he waited, the harvest will come.<\/p>\n

We need to be working<\/em><\/strong> towards a harvest but not simply a harvest of regular grain or fruits.\u00a0 Our goal should be that at the end of the ages everyone is welcomed into the Heavenly kingdom.<\/p>\n

I want to note that I said \u201cworking towards.\u201d\u00a0 <\/strong>I did not say, we just wait for.\u00a0 In actuality the farmer did not just plant the seeds and wait.\u00a0 No, there was work to be done.\u00a0 There was work to be done between the planting and the harvest.\u00a0 The plants would need to be watered, fertilized, and weeding.<\/p>\n

What work is there for us to do?<\/p>\n

We need to be planting seeds of faith and to work to provide water and fertilizer for the seeds to grow.\u00a0 It\u2019s the new evangelization.<\/p>\n

This \u2018New Evangelization\u2019 as named by Pope Paul VI comes in two parts.\u00a0 When we hear the word \u201cevangelization\u201d we probably most often think of bringing the faith to people who are not in church.\u00a0 This is a very important part of the \u201cNew Evangelization\u201d but it is not the only part.<\/p>\n

The second part is to evangelize ourselves.\u00a0 Evangelization is not just about the people we don\u2019t see in church.\u00a0 We need to be deepening our own faith, learning more about Jesus.<\/p>\n

Our Evangelization Team plans ways like our Lenten Small Christian Communities and the presentation that Pat Meyer and I do to help us grow in our individual faith with the hope that in turn, you will then share what you have learned with others.<\/p>\n

You see, evangelization is not just the work of a committee or the priests.\u00a0 It is a work that we all have a share in, although in different ways to plant seeds of faith, to open hearts to Jesus.\u00a0 We open the door and then let Jesus finish the job.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B Ezekiel 17:22-24 2 Corinthians 5:6-10 Mark 4:26-34 June 14, 2015 Ezekiel serves as a prophet of God some six hundred years before the birth of Jesus.\u00a0 It is a time when the people have turned away from God.\u00a0 For this God has allowed their enemies from Babylon to …<\/p>\n

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