The Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed? Surely, when Jesus told the crowds this parable, there must have been mutterings of “You’ve got to be joking!” and heads shaking in bewilderment, reflects Christian Brother Julian McDonald: “Mustard, the greatest of all shrubs???” After all, mustard bushes grew across the length and breadth of Palestine, and were regarded as a noxious weed. No farmer in his right mind would have sown mustard seed in his fields. But surely that’s the point. The growth of God’s kingdom is so unexpected and far-reaching that only God or someone close to God could dream it up. It will spread like wild-fire or, to mix the metaphors, like out-of-control mustard bushes. The joke is so outrageous that in Frederick Buechner’s words “it can only be God’s thing.”

In the early 5th Century, St Augustine reminded members of the Christian community of Hippo that, by sharing in the Eucharist, they became what they had received, and, consequently, were pledging themselves to be bread broken and wine poured out for others, writes Christian Brother Julian McDonald. To live Eucharist means taking on the responsibility of making the love of Christ visible to everyone we encounter. Every time we come together as community around the table of the Eucharist, we remind ourselves of who we are as disciples of Jesus Christ, and we come seeking from him and from one another the strength we need to live true to our responsibilities as followers of Jesus.

When it comes to writing a reflection on the Holy Trinity, I struggle. Like every other card-carrying Catholic and Christian. I can publicly proclaim at least once a week: “I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth…I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, who for us became human…I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son…” (Nicene Creed). But that does not mean that I can get my little head around it, reflects Christian Brother Julian McDonald.

If the gospel-reading for Pentecost, which relates how Jesus penetrated walls and locked doors to appear to the disciples, tells us anything, it is that there are no barriers to the message of God’s peace, love and hope, writes Christian Brother Julian McDonald. The challenge for us contemporary disciples is to create a climate that will allow a new Pentecost to find a way into our hearts and our world. The first step might be to start practicing the language of love

The implication of the start of both Acts and Mark’s Gospel is that what Jesus said and taught was but the beginning of his good news to the world and that it was to be continued by all his followers, with the help of the Holy Spirit, until there was nobody left to hear that good news, reflects Christian Brother Julian McDonald.