Memorial of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the
Church
Lectionary: 319
Lectionary: 319
Every priest stands
daily at his ministry,
offering frequently those same sacrifices
that can never take away sins.
But this one offered one sacrifice for sins,
and took his seat forever at the right hand of God;
now he waits until his enemies are made his footstool.
For by one offering he has made perfect forever
those who are being consecrated.
The Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying:
This is the covenant I will establish with them
after those days, says the Lord:
“I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them upon their minds,”
he also says:
Their sins and their evildoing
I will remember no more.
Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer offering for sin.
offering frequently those same sacrifices
that can never take away sins.
But this one offered one sacrifice for sins,
and took his seat forever at the right hand of God;
now he waits until his enemies are made his footstool.
For by one offering he has made perfect forever
those who are being consecrated.
The Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying:
This is the covenant I will establish with them
after those days, says the Lord:
“I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them upon their minds,”
he also says:
Their sins and their evildoing
I will remember no more.
Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer offering for sin.
Responsorial PsalmPS 110:1, 2, 3, 4
R. (4b) You are a priest for ever, in the line of
Melchizedek.
The LORD said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand
till I make your enemies your footstool.”
R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
The scepter of your power the LORD will stretch forth from Zion:
“Rule in the midst of your enemies.”
R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
“Yours is princely power in the day of your birth, in holy splendor;
before the daystar, like the dew, I have begotten you.”
R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
The LORD has sworn, and he will not repent:
“You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”
R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
The LORD said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand
till I make your enemies your footstool.”
R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
The scepter of your power the LORD will stretch forth from Zion:
“Rule in the midst of your enemies.”
R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
“Yours is princely power in the day of your birth, in holy splendor;
before the daystar, like the dew, I have begotten you.”
R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
The LORD has sworn, and he will not repent:
“You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”
R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower;
all who come to him will live for ever.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower;
all who come to him will live for ever.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMK 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.”
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.”
Meditation: Jesus
taught people using parables
Why did Jesus speak to
people in parables? Like the rabbis of his time, Jesus used simple
word-pictures, called parables, to help people understand who God is and what
his kingdom or reign is like. Jesus used images and characters taken from
everyday life to create a miniature play or drama to illustrate his message.
This was Jesus' most common way of teaching. His stories appealed to the young
and old, poor and rich, and to the learned and unlearned as well. Over a third
of the Gospels by Matthew, Mark, and Luke contain parables told by Jesus.
Cyril of Alexandria
(150-215 AD ), an early church teacher, described the purpose of Jesus'
parables:
Parables are word
pictures not of visible things, but rather of things of the mind and the
spirit. That which cannot be seen with the eyes of the body, a parable will
reveal to the eyes of the mind, informing the subtlety of the intellect by
means of things perceivable by the senses, and as it were tangible. (COMMENTARY
ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 8.5.4)
Parable of the
sower
What does the parable about seeds and roots say to us about the kingdom of God? Any farmer will attest to the importance of good soil for supplying nutrients for growth. And how does a plant get the necessary food and water it needs except by its roots? The scriptures frequently use the image of fruit-bearing plants or trees to convey the principle of spiritual life and death. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit (Jeremiah 17:7-8; see also Psalm 1:3).
What does the parable about seeds and roots say to us about the kingdom of God? Any farmer will attest to the importance of good soil for supplying nutrients for growth. And how does a plant get the necessary food and water it needs except by its roots? The scriptures frequently use the image of fruit-bearing plants or trees to convey the principle of spiritual life and death. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit (Jeremiah 17:7-8; see also Psalm 1:3).
Jesus' parable of the
sower is aimed at the hearers of his word. There are different ways of
accepting God's word and they produce different kinds of fruit accordingly.
There is the prejudiced hearer who has a shut mind. Such a person is
unteachable and blind to what he or she doesn't want to hear. Then there is the
shallow hearer. He or she fails to think things out or think them through; they
lack depth. They may initially respond with an emotional reaction; but when it
wears off their mind wanders to something else.
Another type of hearer
is the person who has many interests or cares, but who lacks the ability to
hear or comprehend what is truly important. Such a person is too busy to pray
or too preoccupied to study and meditate on God's word.
Then there is the one
whose mind is open. Such a person is at all times willing to listen and to
learn. He or she is never too proud or too busy to learn. They listen in order
to understand. God gives grace to those who hunger for his word that they may
understand his will and have the strength to live according to it. Do you
hunger for God's word?
Secrets of the
kingdom
Why does Jesus say that the secrets of the kingdom of God will be revealed to some while others will not be able to recognize nor understand the kingdom of God (Mark 4:11-12)? Origen (185-254 AD), an early church Bible scholar, comments on why Jesus makes a distinction between those who are ready to hear and understand his message with those who are not ready to hear nor understand:
Why does Jesus say that the secrets of the kingdom of God will be revealed to some while others will not be able to recognize nor understand the kingdom of God (Mark 4:11-12)? Origen (185-254 AD), an early church Bible scholar, comments on why Jesus makes a distinction between those who are ready to hear and understand his message with those who are not ready to hear nor understand:
Sometimes it does not
turn out to be an advantage for one to be healed quickly or superficially,
especially if the disease by this means becomes even more shut up in the
internal organs where it rages more fiercely. Therefore God, who perceives
secret things and who knows all things before they come to be, in his great
goodness delays the healing of such persons and defers the remedy to a later
time. If I may speak paradoxically, God heals them by not healing them, lest a
premature recovery of health should render them incurable. This pertains to
those whom our Lord and Savior addressed as 'those outside,' whose hearts and
reins he searches out. Jesus covered up the deeper mysteries of the faith in
veiled speech to those who were not yet ready to receive his teaching in
straightforward terms. The Lord wanted to prevent the unready from being too
speedily converted and only cosmetically healed. If the forgiveness of their
sins were too easily obtained, they would soon fall again into the same
disorder of sin which they imagined could be cured without any difficulty. (ON
FIRST PRINCIPLES 3.1.7)
The Lord Jesus will
give us perceiving eyes and listening ears to understand the message of his
kingdom if we approach him with faith and humility and the readiness to be
taught. The proud cannot see nor hear the truth of God's kingdom because they
trust in their own opinion and perception of what is true or real. They have
shut their minds to supernatural truth of God and his word. Do you approach
God's word with trust and humility or with doubtful pride and skepticism?
"Lord Jesus,
faith in your word is the way to wisdom, and to ponder your divine plan is to
grow in the truth. Open my eyes to your deeds, and my ears to the sound of your
call, that I may understand your will for my life and live according to
it".
 Fertile Ground for the Harvest |
|
January 28, 2015.
Memorial of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church
|
|
Mark 4:1-20
On another occasion
he 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 root; 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."
Introductory
Prayer: Lord, I want to spend
these moments close to you. I believe that you are here with me. Take over my
life more and more and make it what it was meant to be. Lord, I put my trust
in you.
Petition: Jesus, make the soil of my heart open to your word, so
that it will bear fruit for eternal life.
1.A Sabotaged Plan:What
the Father has planted in our lives is good. Goodness can bear fruit. But
Christ has shown us that there is someone who does not want us to bear fruit.
The devil tries to take goodness from our lives through enticing us with
evil, filling our hearts with selfishness, and making us insensitive to the
movements of grace in our soul. We need to renounce Satan every day by fixing
our will on the goodness of Christ. This is done through sincere prayer and
generosity of spirit.
2.Make Your Furrows Deep: The strength of our resolve is tested by the
difficulties we face. If we go deeper in our prayer each day and build up the
habit of letting go of our own ego, we can face the bad times with peace and
trust. When our spiritual roots are not deep, we find ourselves disoriented,
even defeated by the tribulations that are part of an authentic Christian
life. Christ teaches us to dig deep. With him as our friend, difficulties
become a way to show our love and to do something that has eternal value. If
I don’t fight, how can I merit a crown of victory?
3.Docility, Not Passivity: In
order to bear fruit we must be docile to God’s word. But being docile does
not mean being passive. For a Christian, docility to Christ and the Holy
Spirit means willingness to work and serve. We are followers of the One who
came to serve. The Spirit that is self-surrender moves us. To hear the Word
of God and accept it means to make our lives an imitation of Christ’s total
self-giving—day in and day out. God will grant fruit to our lives if we
are willing to be other Christs in the here and now.
Conversation with
Christ: Lord, thank you for
showing me how to bear fruit in my life. I want to imitate your
self-surrender to the Father and to souls. I know that this requires a
constant effort to go deep in my life and be docile to the Holy Spirit. Help
me to live as a giver, not a taker. Your love will always be there to
accompany me.
Resolution: Today I will offer up a small sacrifice to ask God for
the grace of acquiring the virtue that I need the most.
|
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, MARK 4:1-20
(Hebrews 10:11-18; Psalm 110)
(Hebrews 10:11-18; Psalm 110)
KEY VERSE: "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" (v 20).
TO KNOW: Jesus regularly taught by means of parables, which compelled people to hear God's truth in a new way. The unexpected points of these stories often surprised his audience, and confused those whose ears and hearts were closed to the meaning. In his parable of the sower, Jesus dealt with the proclamation and acceptance of God's word. The seed was the Gospel, which was broadcast on the ground generously. Some fell by the wayside and was devoured by the Evil One. Some was sown on the rocky ground of hard hearts where it failed to take root. Some was choked by the thorns of anxiety and worldly concerns. Despite this, some seed fell on the rich soil of receptive hearts and yielded an abundant harvest.
TO LOVE: Lord Jesus, help me to prepare my heart to receive your word.
TO SERVE: What prevents the seed of God's word from growing and maturing in my life?
Memorial of Thomas Aquinas, priest and doctor
of the Church
Thomas Aquinas was born in the family castle in Lombardy near Naples. He joined the mendicant Dominican friars in 1244. He studied in Paris from 1245-1248 under Saint Albert the Great. He was ordained in 1250 and taught theology at the University of Paris. Thomas won his doctorate, and taught in several Italian cities. He was recalled by the king to Naples in 1272 where he was appointed regent of studies while working on the Summa Theologica. On December 6, 1273 he experienced a divine revelation that so enraptured him that he abandoned the Summa saying it and his other writings were so much straw in the wind compared to the reality of the divine glory. He died four months later while en route to the Council of Lyons. His works have been seminal to the thinking of the Church ever since as they systematized her great thoughts and teaching, and combined Greek wisdom and scholarship methods with the truth of Christianity. Pope Leo VIII commanded that his teachings be studied by all theology students. He was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1567.
"Grant me, O Lord my God, a mind to know you, a heart to seek you, wisdom to find you, conduct pleasing to you, faithful perseverance in waiting for you, and a hope of finally embracing you." - Saint Thomas Aquinas
Wednesday 28 January 2015
St Thomas Aquinas.
Hebrews 10:11-18. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek—Ps 109(110):1-4. Mark 4:1-20.
Hebrews 10:11-18. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek—Ps 109(110):1-4. Mark 4:1-20.
Yes, Lord, we have ears!
The image of a sower is not
as familiar to us as it would have been in Jesus’ time. The message of the
parable, however, is just as relevant, and just as liberating. One central
theme is the importance of discernment in our own reception of God’s word. It
is good for us to reflect on our own response to each challenge in our life. In
that way our awareness of God’s invitations can become ever deeper.
For all of us, there are
times when the seed is choked within us and times when it falls on good soil.
We are dependent on God to tell us how best to prepare the ground.
Father, help us to use the
ears you have given us.
MINUTE MEDITATIONS
|
Relationship With God
|
We talk often about how we are God’s “hands and feet,” which is
true. That being said, we can’t fall into the trap of thinking God needs us
like we need Him. He’s God—which makes the reality that He wants to use us and
be in a relationship with us an even sweeter, more profound truth.
January
28
St. Thomas Aquinas
(1225-1274)
St. Thomas Aquinas
(1225-1274)
By universal consent, Thomas Aquinas is the preeminent spokesman
of the Catholic tradition of reason and of divine revelation. He is one of the
great teachers of the medieval Catholic Church, honored with the titles Doctor
of the Church and Angelic Doctor.
At five
he was given to the Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino in his parents’
hopes that he would choose that way of life and eventually became abbot. In
1239 he was sent to Naples to complete his studies. It was here that he was
first attracted to Aristotle’s philosophy.
By 1243,
Thomas abandoned his family’s plans for him and joined the Dominicans, much to
his mother’s dismay. On her order, Thomas was captured by his brother and kept
at home for over a year.
Once
free, he went to Paris and then to Cologne, where he finished his studies with
Albert the Great. He held two professorships at Paris, lived at the court of
Pope Urban IV, directed the Dominican schools at Rome and Viterbo, combated
adversaries of the mendicants, as well as the Averroists, and argued with some
Franciscans about Aristotelianism.
His
greatest contribution to the Catholic Church is his writings. The unity,
harmony and continuity of faith and reason, of revealed and natural human
knowledge, pervades his writings. One might expect Thomas, as a man of the
gospel, to be an ardent defender of revealed truth. But he was broad enough,
deep enough, to see the whole natural order as coming from God the Creator, and
to see reason as a divine gift to be highly cherished.
The Summa
Theologiae, his last and, unfortunately, uncompleted work, deals with the
whole of Catholic theology. He stopped work on it after celebrating Mass on
December 6, 1273. When asked why he stopped writing, he replied, “I cannot go
on.... All that I have written seems to me like so much straw compared to what
I have seen and what has been revealed to me.” He died March 7, 1274.
Comment:
We can look to Thomas Aquinas as a towering example of Catholicism in the sense of broadness, universality and inclusiveness. We should be determined anew to exercise the divine gift of reason in us, our power to know, learn and understand. At the same time we should thank God for the gift of his revelation, especially in Jesus Christ.
We can look to Thomas Aquinas as a towering example of Catholicism in the sense of broadness, universality and inclusiveness. We should be determined anew to exercise the divine gift of reason in us, our power to know, learn and understand. At the same time we should thank God for the gift of his revelation, especially in Jesus Christ.
Quote:
“Hence we must say that for the knowledge of any truth whatsoever man needs divine help, that the intellect may be moved by God to its act. But he does not need a new light added to his natural light, in order to know the truth in all things, but only in some that surpasses his natural knowledge” (Summa Theologiae, I-II, 109, 1).
“Hence we must say that for the knowledge of any truth whatsoever man needs divine help, that the intellect may be moved by God to its act. But he does not need a new light added to his natural light, in order to know the truth in all things, but only in some that surpasses his natural knowledge” (Summa Theologiae, I-II, 109, 1).
Patron Saint of:
Catholic schools
Colleges
Schools
Students
Catholic schools
Colleges
Schools
Students
LECTIO DIVINA:
MARK 4,1-20
Lectio:
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Ordinary Time
1) Opening prayer
All-powerful and ever-living God,
direct your love that is within us,
that our efforts in the name of your Son
may bring mankind to unity and peace.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
All-powerful and ever-living God,
direct your love that is within us,
that our efforts in the name of your Son
may bring mankind to unity and peace.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Mark 4,1-20
Again he began to teach them by the lakeside, but such a huge crowd gathered round him that he got into a boat on the water and sat there. The whole crowd were at the lakeside on land. He taught them many things in parables, and in the course of his teaching he said to them, 'Listen! Imagine a sower going out to sow. Now it happened that, as he sowed, some of the seed fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some seed fell on rocky ground where it found little soil and at once sprang up, because there was no depth of earth; and when the sun came up it was scorched and, not having any roots, it withered away. Some seed fell into thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it produced no crop. And some seeds fell into rich soil, grew tall and strong, and produced a good crop; the yield was thirty, sixty, even a hundredfold.' And he said, 'Anyone who has ears for listening should listen!'
When he was alone, the Twelve, together with the others who formed his company, asked what the parables meant. He told them, 'To you is granted the secret of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside everything comes in parables, so that they may look and look, but never perceive; listen and listen, but never understand; to avoid changing their ways and being healed.'
He said to them, 'Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables? What the sower is sowing is the word. Those on the edge of the path where the word is sown are people who have no sooner heard it than Satan at once comes and carries away the word that was sown in them.
Similarly, those who are sown on patches of rock are people who, when first they hear the word, welcome it at once with joy. But they have no root deep down and do not last; should some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word, at once they fall away.
Then there are others who are sown in thorns. These have heard the word, but the worries of the world, the lure of riches and all the other passions come in to choke the word, and so it produces nothing.
And there are those who have been sown in rich soil; they hear the word and accept it and yield a harvest, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.'
Again he began to teach them by the lakeside, but such a huge crowd gathered round him that he got into a boat on the water and sat there. The whole crowd were at the lakeside on land. He taught them many things in parables, and in the course of his teaching he said to them, 'Listen! Imagine a sower going out to sow. Now it happened that, as he sowed, some of the seed fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some seed fell on rocky ground where it found little soil and at once sprang up, because there was no depth of earth; and when the sun came up it was scorched and, not having any roots, it withered away. Some seed fell into thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it produced no crop. And some seeds fell into rich soil, grew tall and strong, and produced a good crop; the yield was thirty, sixty, even a hundredfold.' And he said, 'Anyone who has ears for listening should listen!'
When he was alone, the Twelve, together with the others who formed his company, asked what the parables meant. He told them, 'To you is granted the secret of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside everything comes in parables, so that they may look and look, but never perceive; listen and listen, but never understand; to avoid changing their ways and being healed.'
He said to them, 'Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables? What the sower is sowing is the word. Those on the edge of the path where the word is sown are people who have no sooner heard it than Satan at once comes and carries away the word that was sown in them.
Similarly, those who are sown on patches of rock are people who, when first they hear the word, welcome it at once with joy. But they have no root deep down and do not last; should some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word, at once they fall away.
Then there are others who are sown in thorns. These have heard the word, but the worries of the world, the lure of riches and all the other passions come in to choke the word, and so it produces nothing.
And there are those who have been sown in rich soil; they hear the word and accept it and yield a harvest, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.'
3) Reflection
• Sitting in the boat, Jesus taught the crowds. In these verses, Mark describes the way in which Jesus teaches the crowd: on the sea side, sitting in the boat, many people around to listen to him. Jesus was not a cultured person (Jn 7, 15). He had not frequented the Superior School of Jerusalem. He had come from inside, from the country side, from Nazareth. He was someone who was unknown, in part, he was a craftsman, in part a country man. Without asking permission from the authority, he began to teach the people. He spoke in a very different way. People liked to listen to him.
• By means of the parables, Jesus helped people to perceive the mysterious presence of the Kingdom in the things of life. A parable is a comparison. He uses the known and visible things of life to explain the invisible and unknown things of the Kingdom of God. For example, the people from Galilee understood when he spoke of seeds, of soil, of rain, of the sun, of the salt, of flowers, of fish, of the harvest, etc. And Jesus, precisely, uses in his parable, these things which were known to the people, to explain the mystery of the Kingdom.
• The parable of the sower is a picture of the life of the farmers. At that time, it was not easy to get a livelihood from agriculture. The land was full of stones. There were many bushes; little rain, much sun. Besides, many times, people in order to shorten the distance passed through the fields and stepped on the plants. (Mk 2, 23). But in spite of that, every year, the farmer sowed and planted, trustful in the force of the seed, in the generosity of nature.
• He who has ears to listen, let him listen! Jesus begins the parable saying: “Listen! (Mk 4, 3). Now, at the end, he says: “He who has ears to listen, let him listen!” The way to understand the parable is research, seeking, “Trying to understand!” The parable does not give us everything ready made, but induces those who listen to think and discover, basing themselves on the lived experience which they have of the seed. It induces to creativity and to participation. It is not a doctrine that arrives ready made to be taught and decorated. The Parable does not give bottled water, but rather leads one to the fountain or source. The farmer who listens, says: Seed in the ground, I know what that is!” But Jesus says that this has something to do with the Kingdom of God. What would this be? And one can already guess the long conversations of the crowd. The parable affects the people, moves them and impels them to listen to nature and to think about life.
• Jesus explains the parable to his disciples. At home, alone with Jesus, the disciples want to know the meaning of the parable. They do not understand it. Jesus was surprised before their ignorance (Mk 4, 13) and responds with a difficult and mysterious phrase. He tells his disciples: “To you is granted the secret of the Kingdom of God; but to those who are outside everything comes in parables, so that they may look and look and never perceive, listen and listen but never understand, to avoid changing their ways and being healed!”. This phrase leads people to ask themselves. But, then for what good is the parable? To clarify or to hide? Perhaps Jesus uses parables in order that people may continue to live in ignorance and does not reach conversion? Certainly not! Because in another point Mark says that Jesus used parables “according to what they could understand” (Mk 4, 33).
• The parable reveals and hides at the same time! It reveals to “those who are inside”, who accept Jesus, the Messiah, the Servant. It hides for those who insist in considering him the Messiah, the glorious King. They understand the images of the parable, but they do not succeed to get the significance.
• The explanation of the parable in its different parts. One after another, Jesus explains the parts of the parable, the seed, the soil up to the harvest time. Some scholars hold that this explanation was added later, and would have been given by some communities. This is well possible! Because in the bud of the parable there is already the flower of the explanation. Bud and flower, both have the same origin which is Jesus. For this reason, we also can continue to reflect and discover other beautiful things in the parable. Once, a person asked in community: “Jesus has said that we should be salt. For what does salt serve?” This was discussed and at the end there were discovered more than ten diverse purposes that salt can have! Then these significances were applied to the life of the community and it was discovered that to be salt is something difficult and demanding. The parable functioned! The same for what concerns the seed. Everybody has some experience of the seed.
• Sitting in the boat, Jesus taught the crowds. In these verses, Mark describes the way in which Jesus teaches the crowd: on the sea side, sitting in the boat, many people around to listen to him. Jesus was not a cultured person (Jn 7, 15). He had not frequented the Superior School of Jerusalem. He had come from inside, from the country side, from Nazareth. He was someone who was unknown, in part, he was a craftsman, in part a country man. Without asking permission from the authority, he began to teach the people. He spoke in a very different way. People liked to listen to him.
• By means of the parables, Jesus helped people to perceive the mysterious presence of the Kingdom in the things of life. A parable is a comparison. He uses the known and visible things of life to explain the invisible and unknown things of the Kingdom of God. For example, the people from Galilee understood when he spoke of seeds, of soil, of rain, of the sun, of the salt, of flowers, of fish, of the harvest, etc. And Jesus, precisely, uses in his parable, these things which were known to the people, to explain the mystery of the Kingdom.
• The parable of the sower is a picture of the life of the farmers. At that time, it was not easy to get a livelihood from agriculture. The land was full of stones. There were many bushes; little rain, much sun. Besides, many times, people in order to shorten the distance passed through the fields and stepped on the plants. (Mk 2, 23). But in spite of that, every year, the farmer sowed and planted, trustful in the force of the seed, in the generosity of nature.
• He who has ears to listen, let him listen! Jesus begins the parable saying: “Listen! (Mk 4, 3). Now, at the end, he says: “He who has ears to listen, let him listen!” The way to understand the parable is research, seeking, “Trying to understand!” The parable does not give us everything ready made, but induces those who listen to think and discover, basing themselves on the lived experience which they have of the seed. It induces to creativity and to participation. It is not a doctrine that arrives ready made to be taught and decorated. The Parable does not give bottled water, but rather leads one to the fountain or source. The farmer who listens, says: Seed in the ground, I know what that is!” But Jesus says that this has something to do with the Kingdom of God. What would this be? And one can already guess the long conversations of the crowd. The parable affects the people, moves them and impels them to listen to nature and to think about life.
• Jesus explains the parable to his disciples. At home, alone with Jesus, the disciples want to know the meaning of the parable. They do not understand it. Jesus was surprised before their ignorance (Mk 4, 13) and responds with a difficult and mysterious phrase. He tells his disciples: “To you is granted the secret of the Kingdom of God; but to those who are outside everything comes in parables, so that they may look and look and never perceive, listen and listen but never understand, to avoid changing their ways and being healed!”. This phrase leads people to ask themselves. But, then for what good is the parable? To clarify or to hide? Perhaps Jesus uses parables in order that people may continue to live in ignorance and does not reach conversion? Certainly not! Because in another point Mark says that Jesus used parables “according to what they could understand” (Mk 4, 33).
• The parable reveals and hides at the same time! It reveals to “those who are inside”, who accept Jesus, the Messiah, the Servant. It hides for those who insist in considering him the Messiah, the glorious King. They understand the images of the parable, but they do not succeed to get the significance.
• The explanation of the parable in its different parts. One after another, Jesus explains the parts of the parable, the seed, the soil up to the harvest time. Some scholars hold that this explanation was added later, and would have been given by some communities. This is well possible! Because in the bud of the parable there is already the flower of the explanation. Bud and flower, both have the same origin which is Jesus. For this reason, we also can continue to reflect and discover other beautiful things in the parable. Once, a person asked in community: “Jesus has said that we should be salt. For what does salt serve?” This was discussed and at the end there were discovered more than ten diverse purposes that salt can have! Then these significances were applied to the life of the community and it was discovered that to be salt is something difficult and demanding. The parable functioned! The same for what concerns the seed. Everybody has some experience of the seed.
4) Personal questions
• What experience do you have with seeds? How does this help you to understand the Good News better?
• What type of soil are you?
• What experience do you have with seeds? How does this help you to understand the Good News better?
• What type of soil are you?
5) Concluding prayer
Fix your gaze on Yahweh
and your face will grow bright,
you will never hang your head in shame. (Ps 34,5)
Fix your gaze on Yahweh
and your face will grow bright,
you will never hang your head in shame. (Ps 34,5)
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét