MY daily reflection and prayer:
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
The Third Week in Ordinary Time
Dear my friends,
Here is the Gospel for us today according to St. 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.”
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.
***
The Gospel today makes us realize that God the Father has planted in our lives something good. We believe that goodness can bear fruit. So we called to be good soil by hearing the word of God and accept it that bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.
We can be good soil if we go deeper in our prayer each day and build up the habit of letting go of our own ego. Then we can face the bad times with peace and trust in order to bear fruit thirty or sixty or a hundredfold. God himself will grant fruit to our lives if we are willing to hear and do his word.
In the Perpetual Adoration of the Eucharist, while worshipping Jesus Christ, we spend our moments close to him. We believe that he is here with us. He takes over our lives more and more. We put our trust in him.
Let’s pray: Lord Jesus Christ, when our spiritual roots are not deep, we will find ourselves disoriented. Teach us to dig deep our lives. With you, difficulties become a way to show our love and to do something that has eternal value. Make the soil of our hearts open to your word, so that it will bear fruit for eternal life forever and ever. Amen
