On another occasion, Jesus began to teach
by the sea. A very large crowd gathered around him so that he got into a boat
on the sea and sat down. And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land. And he
taught them at length in parables, and in the course of his instruction he said
to them, “Hear this! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed
fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
Other seed fell on rocky ground where it
had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep. And when
the sun rose, it was scorched and it withered for lack of roots. Some
seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it and it
produced no grain. And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit. It came
up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. He added, “Whoever
has ears to hear ought to hear.”
And when he was alone, those present along
with the Twelve questioned him about the parables. He answered them, “The
mystery of the Kingdom of God has been granted to you. But to those outside
everything comes in parables, so that they may look and see but not perceive,
and hear and listen but not understand, in order that they may not be converted
and be forgiven.”
Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand
this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables? The sower sows
the word. These are the ones on the path where the word is sown. As soon as
they hear, Satan comes at once and takes away the word sown in them. And these
are the ones sown on rocky ground who, when they hear the word, receive it at
once with joy.
But they have no roots; they last only for
a time. Then when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, they
quickly fall away. Those sown among thorns are another sort. They are the people
who hear the word, but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and the craving for
other things intrude and choke the word, and it bears no fruit. But those sown
on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit thirty
and sixty and a hundredfold.”
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Are you open to hear or read the words of
Jesus? The word of Jesus are the seed that He sows in your hearts. You can read
this when you open your bible, when you go to Holy Mass and when you hear or
read commentaries about the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Some of us hear or read this good news of
Jesus when we are burdened by our problems. Then after our problems have been
solved, we once again distance ourselves from the words of God until the next
problem engulfs us. We only treat God like a commodity that we only use when we
are in need. Thus, the word of God does not bear fruit in our hearts and we
also do not become fruitful followers of Jesus.
How can we become fruitful followers of
the Lord? It’s when we read, hear and share His words. It’s when we allow the
words of God to bear much fruit in our hearts that it transforms us to become a
person with a new mindset soundly grounded upon Jesus’ teachings. Thus, we
become the rich soil that Jesus mentions in the gospel (Mark 4:20)
There are people who allow themselves to
be transformed by the seeds or the words of God. For example, from being bad
they become good, from being irresponsible they now become responsible, and
from being corrupt they become incorruptible. Why? This is for the reason that
they allowed God’s words to work miracles in their life!
Will you allow the seeds of the words of
Jesus to grow in your heart so that the Lord could bless others through you?
– Marino J. Dasmarinas
