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In Mark’s Gospel the Kingdom is not something yet to come, it is a present reality. It is the presence and action (reign) of God among his people. That may not always been readily seen, but it is there none the less.

Last Sunday Mark used two parables to talk about the reality of the Kingdom. Over the next few Sundays he begins to talk about the mystery of the Kingdom present in Jesus and what living in the Kingdom requires. None Mark’s stories are about some awesome display of power. Mark’s stories make it clear that Jesus is about saving human beings, healing them and calming hearts disturbed by life’s storms. In Jesus is the power of life and liberation.

Sudden storms on Lake Galilee were well-known and still happen today.

Many of our ‘boats’ and those of our loved ones have been tossed about on turbulent seas since the sudden arrival of Coronavirus and everything that has happened since. Many of us know exactly the kind of fear and uncertainty that the disciples felt as they were tossed about in the darkness on the stormy lake in this Sunday’s Gospel. Many may also feel that Jesus is asleep somewhere.

And yet, signs of Jesus are all about us: in people trying their best to look after others, to provide meals and shelter, to keep themselves and their loved ones safe, to work for peace in the midst of conflict to bring comfort and to pray.

Vulnerability is an uncomfortable experience. Mark helps us understand that life in the Kingdom begins with faith and confidence in God especially in the midst of epic struggles which threaten to overcome us.

The disciples’ question is ours, too. Who is Jesus for us? A magician, a wonder-worker, or a person who found the way to let the reign of God’s grace out of his heart and into the lives of those around him?

Parables are meant to leave the hearers wondering. They are not straight-forward answers to questions. They are food for thought.

In the Gospels Jesus is rarely concerned about facts and figures, dates and times. By using parables Jesus is trying to engage his listeners at a deeper level. He wants his teaching to seize their hearts. He wants them to discover the truth of what he is saying for themselves. It is part of the business of conversion - coming to see with new eyes.

It is wonderful to see Jesus, again and again, looking at life and at what’s happening around him, for things and images that might help the people to detect and to experience the presence of the Kingdom.

In Mark’s Gospel the Kingdom is not something yet to come, it is a present reality. It is the presence and action (reign) of God among his people. That may not always been readily seen, but it is there none the less. It may seem to have humble beginnings (like the small seed in the second parable), but the experience of it grows into something all-consuming.

The story of the seed that grows all on its own

The farmer who plants the seed knows the process: first the seed, then the green shoot, the leaf, the ear and the grain. The farmer knows how to wait and will not cut the stalk before it is time, but he does not know from where the power comes for the soil, the rain, the sun and the seed to make a seed turn into fruit. That’s what the Kingdom of God is like. It’s a process. There are stages and points of growth. It takes time and happens in time. The fruit comes at the right time but no one can explain its mysterious power.

The story of the tiny mustard seed that turns into something very big

The mustard seed is small, but it grows, to the point where the birds can make their nests in its branches. That’s what the Kingdom is like. It begins as something very small, it grows and spreads its branches providing shelter and shade where new life grows. (From Lectio Divina, June 2021 - www.ocarm.org)

Thinking about the Kingdom today sets a context for our continued listening to Mark’s Gospel and a reminder that God is at work in the world.
Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom is central and fundamental – the work of uncovering the often-hidden reign of God and returning humanity to God’s original plan for his family.

Today’s Gospel opens with the chaotic scene of a huge crowd gathered around the house where Jesus is. It’s such a busy scene that Jesus and the disciples have no time even to have a meal.
This spectacle provokes both the relatives of Jesus and some scribes from Jerusalem into action. The relatives think Jesus is mad; the scribes think he is possessed.
Intentionally or not, both the relatives and the scribes seem intent on closing down the mission of Jesus.
The relatives, convinced that Jesus is out of his mind, and quite possibly embarrassed at the spectacle he is making of himself, set out to take charge of (capture) him, probably intending to take him back to Nazareth and sort him out.
The scribes from Jerusalem try to close down Jesus’ mission by accusing him of being in league with the devil, using Satan’s power in his healing miracles.
Jesus points out how absurd this claim is since the miracles he works with the power of the Holy Spirit bring healing, freedom and liberation, not deeper enslavement to the power of evil. A house divided against itself, he says, cannot stand.
Jesus also tells a parable about a strong man and a burglar. Most people would think that the strong man is Jesus and the burglar is Satan. In fact, it is the other way around! Using the power of God, it is Jesus who has tied up Satan and breaks into his house to free those imprisoned by evil. Jesus warns of the seriousness of accusing him of being an agent of Satan – identifying the Holy Spirit of God with the unclean spirits of the demonic world.
Then the family of Jesus now appear, outside the house. Unable to get to him because of the crowd, they send a message to him, asking to see him. Jesus doesn’t respond directly to the request but asks and answers the question, “who are my mother and brothers?” Pointing to the people gathered around him inside the house, Jesus says, “Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister and mother.” The old family is left outside, and the new family of Jesus is gathered with him inside.
Being part of the family of Jesus doesn’t depend on blood relationship with him but on recognising that he comes from God and doing God’s will.
Belonging to the new family of Jesus is joining him in the business of incarnating, making real in flesh and blood, God’s deep love and mercy for all his people.

We are very used to talking about the Real Presence of Jesus being in the Blessed Sacrament. But the real presence of Christ is also in the community when it gathers in his name to feast on the Word of Scripture, to recall what Jesus said and did at the Last Supper (not only the words over bread and wine, but also the washing of the feet), when it shares the food of the Eucharist together, when it goes out and continues to break and pour out that food in acts of loving kindness, in soothing and nourishing words which brings others to life.
The Eucharist is not only an object to be looked at, but an action to be done so that the living presence of Jesus continues to touch and heal.
Maybe we need to think more deeply about the real presence of Jesus being in real, living human beings.
Bread and Wine have no eyes to gaze with love, no face with which to smile, no mouth to speak soothing words, no arms to hold the grieving and the sick, or to lend a hand, no ears to hear the pain. But we do.
So we are called to become the Eucharist that feeds those around us with the nourishment of breadth of heart and vision, respect, love, compassion, hope and forgiveness.
May we become what we receive. (St Augustine)

A quick look at the readings for today shows very clearly that the Feast of the Trinity is a celebration of God’s love for humankind. It is a day for reflecting on who God is, not for trying to figure out how there can be three persons in one God. 

The Church’s focus today is on experience, not theology.

In intellectual terms, God remains a mystery. For people of faith, God is known not by the mind, but by the heart. That is what spirituality and mysticism are about - exploring our experience of God.

In the first reading God is proclaimed as a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger and rich in mercy; a God who walks with his people.

Paul’s words in the second reading are born out of his belief that, having been made in the image and likeness of God, Christians must always act in the image and likeness of God.

Through our public liturgy, private prayer and contemplation we come to experience - to ‘know’ and feel in our hearts - that God loves us, accepts us, forgives us and constantly invites us into an ever deeper experience of love.

When we allow God’s heart to speak to ours in love we begin to absorb more of God’s life into our own.

We are being transformed. Our values and attitudes, our ways of looking at and being in the world start to change. We begin to see with God’s eyes and feel with God’s heart.

We become passionate about the things God is passionate about: speaking truthfully, acting with justice and integrity, looking out for each other and especially for the vulnerable, promoting peace and understanding, ending competition and discrimination, respecting life.

That makes us better people and our lives become a blessing for each other and for the world.

That is what it means to live out of God’s great gift to us, the Spirit of Jesus Christ which God has placed in our hearts. God becomes enfleshed in us and we become stewards of God’s grace and life.

At Pentecost we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit to the first group of Christian believers - the disciples.
This gift of the Holy Spirit is the culmination of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
It would be wrong to think that this gift happened only once, in one moment of history. In fact, the gifting of the Holy Spirit is a continuing event in the life of every believing person and, therefore, in every age of human history. The Holy Spirit is the presence of God with us - the enduring way in which Jesus remains present in the Church and in the life of each person.
Today we do not pray to receive the Holy Spirit. The presence of the Holy Spirit in us has been affirmed and proclaimed in the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. Instead, we pray to grow more aware of the Spirit’s presence in our lives and to allow that Spirit to grow within us, gradually re-shaping our minds and hearts in the image of Jesus.
Pentecost brings to a close the fifty days of the Church’s Easter celebrations. Soon we will begin Ordinary Time again. So, our feast today helps us understand that we take the Holy Spirit with us into the ordinary events and tasks of each day. That is how we allow the sacred to touch, heal and transform us and the world around us.
The spiritual search is for the heart of God within our own. When we enter into relationship with Christ through the Spirit, the gifts begin to flow more abundantly. The Spirit is the source of reconciliation with ourselves and with each other. Reconciliation is essential if we are to ‘hold and guard’ each other in the midst of all that life throws at us, especially at the moment.
The Spirit brings gifts of wisdom, courage, understanding, right judgement, knowledge, reverence, wonder and awe in God’s presence. May we be graced by them all as we discern and decide how we can best work together to build up each other and to let God’s love be seen at work in each of us.

The feast of the Ascension commemorates the return of Jesus to the Father. Jesus leaves in body but remains with us through the gift of the Spirit. We will celebrate the gift and presence of the Holy Spirit in next Sunday’s feast of Pentecost.
The true meaning of our feast today is not found in Jesus’ leaving, but in the way he calls his disciples back together, to re-form them as a new community entrusted with the spread of the Gospel. Jesus sends the disciples out to make disciples of all nations and to teach them his way. But the disciples are not left to do all that on their own. Jesus promises that he is with them always.
Jesus has called the ragged, group of disciples, scattered after his crucifixion, back to himself to form them, fragile and doubtful as they are, into a community for mission in the name of God. The task of the historical Jesus is complete; the task of the church as the living Body of Christ has just begun. It is comforting to recognise that Jesus doesn’t insist on perfection before he calls us and entrusts us with his mission.
This mission is authorised by God and passed on to us through Jesus. It is not about authority over others. It is actually a call to act as God would act, true to God’s heart as Jesus has taught us.
Ever since Easter, we have been proclaiming that Jesus is alive. The feasts of the Ascension and Pentecost help us to realise that we are part of a long tradition of faithful disciples. We have our faults and failings, but our call is to witness to and teach the way of Jesus by the kind of people we are, the values and attitudes we hold, in thought, word and action - to be the living presence of God in the world today.

As we approach the coming feasts of the Ascension and Pentecost, the Gospel today helps us understand that Jesus is our bond of love with the Father and with one another.
Jesus shows us the way to live full and happy lives by living in love: “I have told you this so that my own joy may be in you and your joy be complete.” The commandments of Jesus are always about love - love of God and love of neighbour. Those who live by these commandments of Jesus abide with him, others and the Father in love.
Jesus is the reign of God in person. He is both the image of God and the model of the redeemed human being that each of us is called to be.
When Jesus says he has told the disciples everything he has learned from the Father it reminds us that Jesus was human as well as divine; that his life was a journey of learning, too; a path of facing choices and challenges. Jesus tells his disciples that they are his friends. They have become his friends because he has shared his knowledge and understanding and love of the Father with them.
We remain in Christ by remaining in his love and loving one another just as Christ has loved us. We are no longer servants but friends of Jesus because he has made known to us everything he learnt from God.
Jesus has chosen us and commissioned us to be love and to do love in the heart of the world.

We are still on the Easter journey. After the three day roller-coaster of emotions - from Jesus’ supper with his disciples, through trial and crucifixion, to the wonder of the women at the empty tomb - we now prepare ourselves to celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
During these fifty days, our journey is steadied and enlightened by the words of the First Letter of St John.
It has a central message made clear in today’s reading: we are asked to believe in Jesus and love one another.
We are then assured that we are not alone in this challenge: “We know that he lives in us by the Spirit that he has given us.” The poet Gerard Manley Hopkins echoes this in As Kingfishers Catch Fire: “For Christ plays in ten thousand places, Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his.” This idea of Christ living within us is explored in today’s Gospel where Jesus likens himself to the “true vine.” He tells us: “Whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty.” Through the gifts of the Holy Spirit we can hold Christ within us, not only in our thoughts, our ideas, our actions, but deep within ourselves, in our souls and in our hearts. We are helped by prayer and by reflecting on the words of scripture, maybe meditating on the images, or by spending time with the phrases that we particularly notice. Or we can sit still and simply open our hearts and listen. Jesus says: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you …”