Scripture: Mark 4:30-32
He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”
Thought for the Day: In the last week, I have had three separate conversations around parables in which someone said, “I was told the parable means…” (and the individual went on to describe what s/he had been told). In each case, I responded by saying the interpretation might be true alongside other interpretations. It was the French Philosopher, Paul Ricoeur, who spoke about “the inexhaustible capacity of the parables.” If Jesus would have wanted to make a specific point, don’t you think he would have used something a bit more concrete than parable. I once said there is a vague truth to parables, and though it sounded strange coming from my mouth the first time, I have come back to that description on more than one occasion. Truth, at least as we usually define it, should not be vague, but even in this parable of the mustard seed, the truths being communicated are numerous, a bit amorphous, yet capable of meeting different people in different situations and transforming their thinking. It is a pretty impressive approach that Jesus had.
Prayer: Holy Mystery, make me available to the new thing you are doing through the parable I think I already know. Amen.
