Tell Our Story

A Reflection on the Gospel for June 13th, 2021:
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

---

Mark
4.26-34

Such a large crowd gathered around Jesus that he got into a boat and began to teach them using many parables.

Jesus said: “The kingdom of God is as if a man would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, without his knowing how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Jesus 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.”

With many such parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
​

Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

Once upon a time, there was a Man who among other things, liked to tell stories. His stories spoke of seeds, and sheep, and vineyards, and people, and Love. Many people listened as they were able to hear. Some thought they were nice stories — and that’s all. Others began questioning whether there was more to the life they were living. And still others didn’t like that this Man was telling such stories at all and tried to stop Him. Eventually, they did stop Him.


But not before His stories transformed a small group of people. This small group of people felt absolutely compelled to share not only the stories this Man told, but also the story of who this Man was and how He changed their hearts. The more people they told, the more hearts and minds were changed and the Man’s Story spread to all nations — as He had asked them to do. Soon there were many, many people who would tell the Man’s Story.


But unfortunately, as the Story spread, some people changed it to:


Benefit themselves and not others.


Wield power over others.


Lessen the value of others.


They didn’t truly hear what the Man’s Story was really about. They started telling their own version of the Man’s Story.


This caused great pain, great hurt, and great division. The Story was no longer the Man’s Story but a version of the story through the lens of certain storytellers. There is power in sharing a story. The storyteller is responsible for that power. Some storytellers did not use that power well — changing the Man’s Story into something it wasn’t.  


Thankfully, this is not the whole story. There are many storytellers. Many have come to know that the Man was not simply a Man but rather someone who came to tell the world of a Love that overcomes pain, hurt, and division. And in these storytellers, the Man and His stories continue to live. The people that didn’t like the Man’s stories? Didn’t really stop Him at all.


The Man: Jesus.


The Story: God’s Love.


The storytellers: each of us.


Jesus knew the power of story. Do I truly hear what Jesus is trying to teach me? Do I recognize the transformative power of His Love Story and use it well? There are many parts to the story of our Church. There are good times. And there are some very dark, horrific, terrible times: clergy sex abuse and First Nations residential schools to name but two. Yet, that is not the whole story. The Church is not a designated few. The Church is all who know and share Jesus’ story. All parts of our Church story — the good, the bad, the ugly — need to be acknowledged and told. In knowing our story we can be better tellers of Jesus’ story and our place in it. Choosing to do so means the Story can continue. It has to.


How well do I… you… we tell God’s story?




Aurea Sadi

---