Gospel: Mark 4:1-20
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.”
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Reflection:
Are you open to hear or read the words of Jesus?
The word of Jesus are the seed that He sows in our hearts. We can read this when
we open our bible, when we go to Holy Mass and when we 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. We only treat God like
a commodity that we only use when we are in need. Thus the words of God does not
bear fruit in our hearts and we also do not become fruitful followers of Jesus.
How could we become fruitful followers of
Jesus? 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 the words of God. 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!
How about you? Will you allow the words/seeds
of God to heal and transform you? –
Marino J. Dasmarinas
