Scripture:
Reflection:
Listening to the Word
“And he began again to teach by the seaside.” Today’s Gospel begins at the sea of Galilee in Mark’s 4th chapter. This area is a good farming region and from the lakeside the people listening could see the farmer sowing the seed. Speiro— ‘to sow” is the Greek word which means to scatter seed over tilled ground. It seems to us today a wasteful way of planting. “And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it” Paths ran through the growing plants so people could help the growth and harvest it. These paths are hardened by traffic and crushed by treading feet! The plants are destroyed without being productive.
Jesus often tells us in different ways in the Gospels to be careful how you hear the Word. Expressions like “see how you hear” “He has ears let him hear.” In Mt 13:19 Jesus explains: “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown around the road.”
The Greek word to “understand”is “sun-he’ame” which literally means “to send together.” It is used 26 times in the New Testament. “And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand” MK 7:14 We hear the powerful Word of God but for a lot of us it is not effective as it should be for two big reasons. First, we don’t “to send together” or understand it. When Jesus told His apostles about His upcoming suffering and death, they could not grasp it. “But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.” Lk 18:34
A second reason why we cannot feel the whole impact of the Word is not just absence of understanding but also hardness of heart. “What has been sown in his heart” in Mt and in Mk “And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.”The phrase “sown in them” has the same meaning that Matthew called “the heart”. We all need the Great Cardiologist, Jesus, to soften our hearts so we can absorb the Word of His great Love!
Fr. Bob Weiss, C.P. preaches Parish Missions and is a member of the Passionist Community in Louisville, Kentucky.