Wednesday January 27, 2021 - Third week in ordinary time - The seed is the word of God; the sower is Christ, he who finds him abides forever - Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 4, 1-20

The teaching of Jesus takes place in two stages: on the one hand, the parable of the sower, announced as it is, is addressed to the crowd; on the other, when he and his disciples were alone, he developed their meaning for them. In purely human judgment, Jesus appears to be unfair, but there are, on the one hand, those who are ready to receive this teaching; and on the other, those who listen but do not let it reach their hearts. Thus, Jesus compares the Word of God to the seed: the earth to receive it must be prepared so that it can bear fruit to be harvested. While carrying the seeds, however, there are those that fall on the roads. Of course, they will not grow, because they will immediately fall prey to birds. Some fall into thorns, the thorns grow stronger when they grow together and choke them; all this will not bear fruit. While those who have fallen on good soil grow and bear fruit.

The first to sow was Jesus. We have heard time and time again that some people in Israel could not receive the Word of God that Jesus proclaimed, to name only the Pharisees, scribes and his contemporaries in his hometown of Nazareth. Humility and love for the Word of God are therefore essential for it to be effective in our life. We need to study the scriptures so that there are no misconceptions about its teachings; it is the Word of God and unless it is by the illumination of the Holy Spirit we could understand the meaning of it, it will have little or no effect on our life; we could not give our lives to the will of God. From Jesus' explanations of the parable of the seed that we have just heard, we can be sure that He does not hide from us anything of the value of the Word of God in our life; it can grow and bear fruit if we truly embrace it with faith and love, and bring flavor to our life. Amen!