Mass Readings:

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark 4:26-34

He said, “This is how it is with the kingdom of God;* it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.”

He said, “To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. * But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.” With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it. Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.

REFLECTION: "But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade."

Remembering that God’s word shall not return to Him void, the Breaking Bread Ministry of the Catholic Charismatic Center, goes out every Saturday morning to share our faith, food and clothing.

We don’t know if what we are doing is touching anyone, reaching anyone and so we sow by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). I gave up this ministry for 3 years because I was not seeing any results—the homeless would share breakfast or lunch with us, thank us for the clothing but many times would leave before we prayed. I was disillusioned. I lacked humility, perseverance, and patience. Persistent nudging by the Holy Spirit led me back to the ministry -- Back with a different attitude.

Sharing God’s Word is like sowing a seed. We often don’t see immediate results of our work. The seeds we plant are so small like a mustard seed that we have to work in faith and give God’s Word a chance. As our Lord has said, once the seed is sown into the ground, it grows whether the farmer is watching it or not or whether he knows what is causing its growth. It does not matter who the person is who sowed or reaped. It is God who gives growth through His grace.

The other day we went back to a neighborhood that even during the day was very scary. There are many grandmothers raising their grandkids –it was a place of drugs and gangs. We were handing out blankets, and we noticed a group of teens approaching our car. They were wearing gang clothing. But as they approached our group, they recognized the head of the Breaking Bread Ministry and said, “Hi, Walt, I know you! You came when I was a little kid. You gave us blankets. You read bible stories and we sang songs.” ( News from the Streets) Walt and his group had shown love and kindness to these teens and they remembered. Walt had sown the gift of love and God was at work. The seed sown in our hearts is sufficient to grow and bear fruit if we take away all obstruction and allow the grace God gives us to reach our hearts.

Sometimes we are asked by God to go out of our comfort zone. The seed sown years before I joined the ministry was that there is a God who loves them and has not forgotten them.

Our actions affect people. We, many times, don’t reap the harvest of our sowing, but as St Therese of Lisieux said, “Remember that nothing is small in the eyes of God. Do all that you do with Love”.