It is a mystery of generation, of gratuitous covenant. We are called to grasp the inspiring scope of the image. It is a light: the secret of the grain that is cast, delivered, mixed with the earth until it dies, becomes a hospitable plant. There the image will have all its paschal light. The image of the seed is dear to him, he takes it up again and again: even and precisely at the final hour, before the Greeks who ask to see: 'If the grain of wheat that falls into the earth does not die, it remains alone if it dies, it bears much fruit (.) where I am, there will my disciple be also' (Jn 12:24). It gives us an insight into how Jesus sees his own history, and that of the church and what his style is. Tremendous seed - great hospitable plant. The point of the parable is the contrast. So how can we say today the mystery of the Kingdom, of the surprising and dramatic growth, narrating these days of the synodal journey, with words of flesh?ģ. A point of conjunction symbolically indicative, not conclusive. The kingdom of God must always be announced 'in a parable', that is, at a point of conjunction between its presence and our experience, otherwise its transcendent mystery sounds foreign. And the question concerns us profoundly today.

For this reason, Jesus here draws the hearers into his narrative art. This is why 'Jesus' revelation is parabolic, and such must be Christian existence' (B. Jesus has already told so many parables, 'the beauty of his revelation is that he spoke to us of God and man together, one in the other. As if to engage his interlocutor - today, the question bounces around this holy assembly - in his quest to propose to God's people, and beyond, a summary of the journey. 'To what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we make use of?': Jesus begins with a double question. 4 of Mark, the identity card of the Kingdom, are one of the sacred places of the revelation of Jesus' own, and of how Jesus sees his church as the servant of the Kingdom - light is shed on the synod's journey as well.

Well, from the place where I had the grace to be, on the margins of the Synod and in prayer, with Father Timothy we were drawn to this Gospel. The Gospel does not produce solutions but reveals the dynamism, always surprising, of the Spirit, which gives fulfilment. : what can we say? It is, again, time to lift our gaze to the inspiring light of the Gospel. While wars rage around us, we have enjoyed the spiritual conversation, listened to so many octants, so many imperatives, attempts to read reality, complex, disturbing. The Church, the believing conscience of each member, is shaken today. The Word of God, heard and combined with the events around us, presses in and gives us light. Our discourses are now at a decisive point, a certain conversion has taken place, we have to account for it. Reaching the two disciples conversing with each other, Jesus, starting with the question ('what are these conversations?') and the consequent pause over the Scriptures, and the breaking of the bread, turns their walk into a 'U'. ' What are these conversations you are making among yourselves on the way?' (Lk 24:17). Narrating parables rather than issuing proclamations General Congregation 16 - 23 October 2023

Subversive kingdom parables