Daily Reflection – 7/24/2024
Sacred Scripture
On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore. And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some 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. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirty-fold. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”(Matthew 13:1-9)
Reflection
Jesus’ teaching method was a very simple one. He used parables – short stories and images taken from everyday life to convey hidden truths about the kingdom of God. Like a skillful artist, Jesus painted evocative pictures with short and simple words. A good image can speak more loudly and clearly than many words. Jesus used the ordinary everyday images of life and nature to point to another order of reality – hidden, yet visible to those who had “eyes to see” and “ears to hear”. Jesus communicated with pictures and stories, vivid illustrations which captured the imaginations of his audience more powerfully than an abstract presentation could. His parables are like buried treasure waiting to be discovered
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 whose mind is already closed. 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.
Still 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 forever too busy to pray or too preoccupied to study and meditate on God’s word. He or she may work so hard that they are too tired to even think of anything else but their work.
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.
Jesus urges us to examine our approach to God. If we will let Him, He can make our barren lives fertile. He can protect us from the weeds which threaten to choke our Christian commitment, and from the pests and birds which seek to destroy the Good News of the kingdom. All that is necessary is our willingness to remain committed to the kingdom of God and our daily resolve to never allow anything of this world to stand in the way of our desire to grow as a follower of Christ!
Prayer of The Day
“Lord, 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”.
Daily Note
Does the word of God get choked by all our daily cares? God has given the freedom to push Him into the background of our lives if it suits us to do so! The freedom to shut Him out altogether. It’s easy enough to be enthusiastic Christians when nothing much is demanded of us. But our commitment can be so shallow; it can’t withstand the heat of temptations and the opposition of persecution. It’s when the going gets rough in following Jesus that our shallow commitment will shrivel and die.
