Reflection for SATURDAY, 24th Week, Ordinary Time.
By
Today's Word of God
Luke 8:4-15
While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”
When he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
His disciples asked him what this parable meant. He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that,
“‘though seeing, they may not see;
though hearing, they may not understand.’
“This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.
Today's Reflection
The imagery of a seed being sown in the ground and then germinating into a plant is really amazing and astounding.
And to realize that the plant bears almost no resemblance to the seed that it came from is also very intriguing. Maybe perhaps the only visible connection is in the seeds that it bears.
Hence we can say that nature bears an indication to the mystery of life, here as well as hereafter.
And that was why in the 1st reading, St. Paul used that imagery of the seed and what it will grow into as a means of explaining the mystery of the afterlife and the resurrection.
In the gospel, Jesus also used the imagery of seeds, with the sower sowing seeds in various types of soil.
Yet Jesus also said: Listen, anyone who has ears to hear!
What we hear at Mass, i.e. the prayers, the homily, the hymns, all these are like seeds of the mystery of God that are sown into our hearts.
Whatever the state of our hearts may be, the seeds will remain there and will not go back to God without achieving what they were sent to do.
Yet let us also do what is necessary for the seeds to bear fruit. Just like the seed must die in order to bear a harvest, we too must die to ourselves in order for the Word of God to become alive in us.
But we must first listen to the Word of God, and then our hearts will begin to bear fruit that will last.
GOD BLESS YOU
Good morning. Have a nice day.