"Look with Action"

Gospel: Mk 4:1-20

On another occasion, Jesus 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 roots; 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.” 

***

I remember during college on my third year as a Statistics student we had a reporting assignment. Everyone in the class will be given only the topic title during the first meeting among the different Statistical Tools. Our only job is to find or make three examples that will suit the topic, make a presentation, and present it to the class for us to be graded. I found it hard to look and make an example because I did not understand the topic assigned to me. But then again, at the end of the academic year, I really thanked God for the success of my presentation.

Lately, I realized that if we don’t look and work for the topic given to us probably we will have no knowledge right now on the different Statistical Tools. Perhaps, this is the message of the Lord in today’s Gospel. Jesus uses parables that other people cannot understand. In the words of Jesus, “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.’ ” has affirmed me. Just like the unfamiliar topic given to me back then,  we need to look and work for our salvation.

Again, the Lord reminded us that His words are clear to us if we don’t allow ourselves to be on the path of rocks and thorns. How can we understand God’s message if we dwell in this kind of place? Would God's word even make sense at all when we live for worldly things, not rooted in God, and allow Satan to come and corrupt this precious life God has given us?

God wants us to grow in His good soil. In His words, “Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.” telling us to seek Him and do some action that will allow ourselves to be in good soil.

Amen Ba Yun? J