11

TH SUNDAY IN
ORDINARY TIME
 YEAR B

A SMALL
MUSTARD SEED
PRAYER JOURNAL
11th Sunday in Ordinary Time  YEAR B

Opening Prayer
Prayer of St. Therese of Lisieux
O Eternal Father,
Thy Only-Begotten Son, the dear Child Jesus,
Belongs to me since Thou hast given Him.
I offer thee the infinite merits of His Divine Childhood,
And I beseech in His name
to open the gates of Heaven to countless hosts of little ones
who will for ever follow this Divine Lamb.
Amen

Readings for The Eleventh

Sunday in Ordinary Time
First Reading
~Ezekiel 17:22−24~

T
hus says the Lord GOD :/ I, too, will take from the crest of the
cedar,/ from its topmost branches tear off a tender shoot,/ and
plant it on a high and lofty mountain;/ on the mountain heights
of Israel I will plant it./ It shall put forth branches and bear fruit,/ and
become a majestic cedar./ Birds of every kind shall dwell beneath it,/
every winged thing in the shade of its boughs./ And all the trees of the
field shall know/ that I, the LORD,/ bring low the high tree,/ lift high
the lowly tree,/ wither up the green tree,/ and make the withered tree
bloom./ As I, the LORD, have spoken, so will I do.

2 Lectionary for Masses for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America ©2001, 1998, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.

© 2017 Augustine Institute. All rights reserved.

 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time  YEAR B

Responsorial Psalm
~Psalm 92:2−3, 13−14, 15−16~
R/ Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.

It is good to give thanks to the LORD,

to sing praise to your name, Most High,
to proclaim your kindness at dawn
and your faithfulness throughout the night.
R/
The just one shall flourish like the palm tree,
like a cedar of Lebanon shall he grow.
They that are planted in the house of the L ORD
shall flourish in the courts of our God.
R/
They shall bear fruit even in old age;
vigorous and sturdy shall they be,
declaring how just is the L ORD,
my Rock, in whom there is no wrong.
R/

Second Reading
~2 Corinthians 5:6−10~

B
rothers and sisters:
We are always courageous, although we know that while we are at
home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith,
not by sight. Yet we are courageous, and we would rather leave the body
and go home to the Lord. Therefore, we aspire to please him, whether we
are at home or away. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of
Christ, so that each may receive recompense, according to what he did in
the body, whether good or evil.

Lectionary for Masses for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America ©2001, 1998, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. 3
© 2017 Augustine Institute. All rights reserved.
11th Sunday in Ordinary Time  YEAR B

Gospel
~Mark 4:26−34~

J
esus said to the crowds: “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 through it all 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.

His mother and his brothers arrived. Standing outside they sent word to
him and called him. A crowd seated around him told him, “Your mother
and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you.” But he said
to them in reply, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking
around at those seated in the circle he said, “Here are my mother and my
brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and
mother.”

4 Lectionary for Masses for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America ©2001, 1998, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.

© 2017 Augustine Institute. All rights reserved.

 until my heart is filled with inner peace
and I learn to know your will. Amen.
11th Sunday in Ordinary Time  YEAR B

LECTIO DIVINA — Sunday

SACRED READING OF SCRIPTURE
Feel free to jot down your notes or reflections on the video in the space below.
Lectio Divina –
SACRED READING OF SCRIPTURE
Feel free to jot down your notes or reflections on the video in the space below.

© Augustine Institute.

Lectio Divina –
MEDITATION
SMALL GROUP QUESTION #1
When we think about serving God we can get overwhelmed just
thinking about where to start. The image of the mustard seed is meant
to encourage us. It is okay that we are only one person. It is okay that
we are small and that our abilities are few! How does this image
challenge your ideas of what it means to serve the Lord and
build his Kingdom? What are some ways you can practically
change your approach to spreading the Gospel away from
worrying about numbers to simply loving one person at a time?

Lectionary for Masses for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America ©2001, 1998, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. 5
© 2017 Augustine Institute. All rights reserved.
11th Sunday in Ordinary Time  YEAR B

SMALL GROUP QUESTION #2

In 1969 while he was still Cardinal, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI gave
a series of radio speeches that were later published in a volume called,
“Faith and the Future”. Recall Dr. Sri’s quotes from Cardinal Ratzinger in
the video.

This is a lot different than the worldview most of us live in our parishes,
where the people who are still there don’t seem to think that anything
like this could happen and that it will always be business as usual. How
do Ratzinger’s words challenge your perception of the role of
the Church in our society today and what we should be working
towards together? What can you do as a group to strive to
become more and more one of the “convinced minority”?

Lectio Divina –
PRAYER & RESOLUTION

PRAYER
Return to the Gospel for today. Remember your call to Childlike Humility
as you ponder these words. Try to get in touch with the freedom that
comes from realizing that we are not the ones who build the kingdom –
God builds the kingdom through our littleness and dependence on Him.

Take the word that comes to mind and reflect on what it means to you
personally. For example, the phrase, “becomes the largest of plants” might
have stuck out to you. Ask yourself what this means in your own life. Is
the Lord trying to give you hope in this mystery so that you can abandon
yourself more fully into His embrace?

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 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time  YEAR B

RESOLUTION
The parable of the mustard seed should encourage us that we are perfectly
able, in all of our imperfections, to live a good life with the Lord. It is little
people who he transforms into saints because they can’t take control and
must totally rely on him, and it is the same with little groups of people.
In fact, when we begin to learn more about the saints we realize that
they often come in groups. They knew each other, were maybe even dear
friends, family, or spiritual directors of one another. Some met only once
or twice, or were inspired by each other. It is out of these “convinced
minorities” that God has changed the world.

• St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Monica, St. Jerome

• St. Francis of Assisi, St. Clare, St. Elizabeth of Hungary,
St. Anthony
of Padua, St. Dominic
• St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane Frances de Chantal
• St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Francis Xavier, St. Peter Faber, St. Philip
Neri
• St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross
• St. Patrick and St. Brigid
• Pope St. John Paul II, St. Mother Teresa, St. Maximillian Kolbe, St.
Padre Pio
• Sts. Louis and Zelie and their daughter, St. Therese of Lisieux

What will you do this week to start living out this philosophy of the mustard
seed? How can you, especially together as a small group, live littler, focus
smaller, and focus on loving those neighbors near you, trusting that out of
these little acts of love God will grow his kingdom into the mightiest tree?

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11th Sunday in Ordinary Time  YEAR B

CLOSING PRAYER
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent
enterprise that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying
that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.

No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.

We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything,
and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning,
a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do
the rest.
—adapted from A Step Along the Way,
by Bishop Ken Untener of Saginaw

“Lay all your cares about the future trustingly in God’s hands, and let
yourself be guided by the Lord just like a little child.”
—St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
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 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time  YEAR B

Monday
In the Gospel this week we get two parables – that of the mustard seed
and another of a man scattering seeds on the land. When the man scatters
the seed it grows and bears fruit “of its own accord”, and the man doesn’t
know how. This is another example of childlike humility. The man remains
little, does his simple task, and after waiting for that one action from the
man the land yields a huge harvest on its own. How can you strive more to
simplify your efforts and let God do the work of yielding the fruit?

“Don’t spend your energies on things that generate worry, anxiety and
anguish. Only one thing is necessary: Lift of up your spirit and love God.”
—St. Padre Pio

Tuesday
Return to the First Reading from Ezekiel. This reading traces the trail
of the mustard seed back before the Father sent Jesus. The logic of the
mustard seed can be found even in the Old Testament, where God slowly
builds the foundation for his kingdom from Adam and Eve. Here is the
prophecy of the small branch of a tree yielding a shoot that will become
a tree that will be a home to every kind of bird, all so that every tree will
“know” the Lord.

Ask God to reveal to you how he is making himself known and loving
others through you.

“Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands, no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes with which Christ looks out with compassion to the
world. Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good. Yours
are the hands with which he is to bless us now.”
—St. Teresa of Avila 9
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 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time  YEAR B

Wednesday
In this week’s Responsorial Psalm we read that it is good to give thanks to
God, and that the just ones “shall bear fruit even in old age; vigorous and
sturdy shall they be”. We all have weaknesses and failings that we think
keep us from being loved by God and being his instrument – whether it’s
old age or youth, lack of education, not knowing what to say, our sins, etc.
Ask the Holy Spirit to gently show you what these things are for you, and
try to let God speak into these places in your heart.

“No one was every lost because his sin was too great, but because his
trust was too small.”
—Bl. Francis Xavier Seelos

Thursday
Return to the Second Reading this week. Here St. Paul is writing to the
Corinthians and talks about the courage that is needed to walk by faith
while we are away from the Lord on this earth. To have childlike trust in
God, we have to have faith that he is there and will take care of us. Courage
is needed to let go of control and surrender to him like a child. Today,
ponder this virtue of courage and ask the Lord to grow it in you even more.

“Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had
yet been done.”
10
— C.S. Lewis
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 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time  YEAR B

Friday
Return to the Responsorial Psalm, particular the phrase, “They that are
planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.”
Often when we begin to trust in the Lord, we expect him to take care of
our earthly needs and to have no suffering. As we continue living, we can
begin to realize that suffering remains a very real part of our life. This is
because God promises we will flourish in his courts, not the courts of the
world. Ponder this mystery and ask God what it means to flourish in his
courts.

“Suffering, a consequence of original sin, acquires a new meaning; it

becomes a participation in the saving work of Jesus.”
—CCC 1521

Saturday
Return to the Gospel and the parable of the mustard seed. Jesus says
not only that the mustard seed is a small seed, but that it is the smallest
seed in the whole world. Think about the things that you think you need
to be able to preach the Gospel – knowledge, eloquence, confidence,
purity, sanctity, perfection, events, planning, videos, big numbers, etc.
With this parable Jesus is telling you that you don’t really need any of
those strengths. You only need to stay little and love. Imagine what it
would look like to evangelize this way.

“It is impossible for me to grow bigger, so I put up with myself as I am,

with all my countless faults… It is your arms, Jesus, which are the lift to
carry me to heaven. And so there is no need for me to grow up. In fact,
just the opposite: I must stay little and become less and less.”
—St. Therese of Lisieux 11
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