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Gospel: Mark 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.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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I’m sure we all want our hearts filled with that fertile soil which Jesus blesses in today’s Gospel. It bears thirty, sixty, or a hundred-fold.
But fertile soil is only fertile because first it has been broken.
In order to make soil fertile, you must crush it, churn it, and repeatedly separate it. After this period of chaos, the ground is ready to receive life.
When placed inside that ground churned open, seeds begin to grow. Any plant that bears good fruit was once a tiny seed placed inside soft, fertile soil.
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The same is true for us. When we experience heartache or sorrow, our hearts are broken open like fresh soil. That wound within will bear fruit – thirty, sixty, or a hundred-fold.
But Jesus tells us that we have a say in what type of fruit that will be.
Without faith, our hearts can dry up like dirt, leading to bitterness and anger.
But with faith, we can mysteriously begin to bear good fruit – thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold.
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For example, knowing the sorrow that death brings, can allow us to grow in empathy, ministering to others in a more compassionate way.
Knowing the twinge of hunger can motivate us to feed others who still have empty stomachs.
Knowing the pain of loneliness can inspire us to visit others, who may otherwise feel forgotten.
In the words of one spiritual writer, Jesus can transform us into, “wounded healers.” I’ve found this to be true in my own life: God has used some of my more painful experiences to make me a more merciful minister of the Gospel.
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May the Lord take whatever is broken within us and bless it, so that we can bear good fruit – thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold.
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Image credits: (1) Redeeming God (2) Cropaia (3) Becoming the Oil and the Wine