Sunday Sexagesima Lk 4.26-29
songs available:
In your temple, O my Savior , LIS 2: 1-3
O Jesus, Master soft and tender, LIS 146: 1-7
Your Word, Lord, LIS 151: 1-5
Jesus in his sacred table, LIS 163: 1-9
26 "he said,
looks like the kingdom of God. It is like a man should cast seed into the ground;
27 he sleep or remain awake day and night the seed germinates and grows without knowing how.
28 In fact, by itself the soil produces first the blade, then the ear,
29 and as soon as the fruit is ripe, he puts the sickle, because it is the time of harvest '. "
Dear " sowers " the Lord
in the field of the world,
is still "Kingdom of God" that speaks this parable. As usual, Jesus took examples from the daily life of people around him to understand one aspect of "Kingdom of God , an aspect of church life, one aspect of how things work here in the community of believers.
Whenever it highlights another aspect. Here, take the dish above and one below!
With the seed that the sower dropped in different fields (Mk 4.4-20), he wants to invite us to work in the field of our heart for it is not hard as "the way" or "stony ground" or asphyxiated by these "brambles" that are "concerns" and other "attractions" of this world, but our heart is to receive personal property "the Living Word Permanent and God (1 P 1.23).
With the parable of "mustard seed" , "the smallest of all seeds" used by people of the time in their fields, it shows that "the kingdom of God" , even if it starts so small and insignificant, finally unfolds and grows to exceed in grandeur anything that exists on the scope of this world. (Mk 4.30-33)
With our parable, Jesus wants to encourage us.
JESUS CALLS U.S.
to trust him
1 as regards the quality of seed he gives us,
two about the power of invigorating his seed
3 regarding the fruits of our sowing
4 as the destination of these fruits.
X X X 1 X X X
Jesus called to trust him
about
THE QUALITY OF SEED
it provides us
This is something although significant. If the sower is not convinced of the quality of his semen, he did not sow - so what is the tire for anything? - Or he will sow without conviction or hope.
The farming profession is not as simple as that. I remember the most important operator in my last parish in Alsace. He regularly visited a center in the department where he explained how to sow the seed of the year and what not to do. He returned to his village and transmitted it to other farmers.
They were informed about the quality of their semen and conditions under which it gave the best performance. Some were ignoring the advice - did not trust the seed - and spread much more seed on the field for better performance. But ultimately they choked the seeds by putting too many, while one who had confidence in the seed and sowed less dense, more harvested.
seed that Jesus has given us is it good? Is anyone out there who no longer bear fruit? The comedians skits, songs of popular stars, even the speeches of politicians, however, that critical as it is not possible, do not they meet more people than we sow the Gospel?
You know, the handful of disciples around Jesus would be very little face to the crowds who flocked to the Temple of Jerusalem. And when Jesus agonized on the cross, they must have felt much smaller and insignificant yet.
This impression can also win us when we see a few dozen people gathered Sunday morning, while nightclubs are always full, museums and concert halls either. Our seed is it lower quality? What she brings, the fruit it bears, is so insignificant compared to what the world offers?
With our parable, Jesus wants to reassure us, even inspire us to encourage us and his seed to sow.
X X X 2 X X X
Jesus calls us to trust him
about the
vivifying power of his seed
"Let [the sower] sleep or remain awake day and night the seed germinates and grows without knowing how. " (v. 27)
It would not come to the idea of the sower to spend the nights awake next to his field to " germinate "and " push " his seed. If an unbeliever, he relies on mysterious forces of creation, it is believed he handed the fate of his seed in the hands of the Creator.
No doubt the farmer look there from time to time in the field to see how things evolve, but not to make the seed germinate and grow.
It reminds me of our childhood. Mom allowed us to sow peas in a corner of the garden. That rarely succeeded. Is that we're simply not "sleep" then as the sower of our parable, but we grattions earth to see how they were sprouting, and, over time, so we often mishandled the seed she was dying.
It is as if, by sowing the Gospel Jesus Christ, we continually grattions with listeners for us inquire: "So you believe now? "At most we would send they walk.
Such an attitude lack of confidence in the quality of the seed. This attitude casts doubt that "the Gospel is" - as Paul writes - "the power of God" can really "save" ( Rm 1.16), that is - as Peter says his side - "Incorruptible seed, the living Word of God and permanent" (1 P 1.23).
seed that Jesus has placed in our hands is a seed "alive" and "powerful" . Sow it with faith in God as the seed producer in the quality of his divine seed. "The secret and hidden wisdom" (1 Cor 2.7) it is made because it "sprout and grow without us knowing how" .
Probably our agronomists and farmers who know they now more about the process of germination and growth of the seed of Jesus' time, but why life is developing well, it remains a mystery.
We on our side, we also know, from having learned from God in the Bible, the Holy Spirit produces faith and develops from the seed of the Gospel of Christ. The fact remains that the conversion as perseverance in faith in Jesus Christ, this action "mysterious and hidden" , we can not explain "Scientifically."
But we know we can trust the vivifying power of that seed, first because Jesus assures us, then also because we have experienced in our own lives.
But Jesus knows our impatience, he knows that we would see more results or faster results of our work as sowers of the Gospel. Also
X X X 3 X X X
Jesus calls us to trust him
regarding
FRUITS OF OUR SOWING
was wont to say: "We must allow time to time. "If there is a job where you learn to be patient, it is agriculture. It takes time it takes. And it goes through stages that can not be short-circuited.
"The land produces first the blade, then the ear, " and only much later "that the fruit is ripe " (v. 27-28). But he matures, watch for the Lord.
In the Old Testament, God used another comparison to make clear how his gospel "Product of fruit" in us
"The rain and snow descend from heaven and do not return there without watering the earth without making it fertile and the plants have germinated , without providing seed to the sower and bread to the eater. It's the same for my word, that comes out of my mouth: it is not for months without end, without doing what I want and I fulfilled the mission entrusted to him. " (Isaiah 55.10-11)
Doubtless there is not now a believer well founded, a believer who knows clearly articulate all the points of the teaching of the Gospel. Again we go through different stages that Jesus here compares to the passage of "grass" to "spike" then to "ripe fruit" .
When you go into the fields a few weeks after sowing, do you see the grass. Initially, the grains do not resemble that of the grass. There is currently no ears, no fruit yet.
Thus the gospel sown in the hearts of working in silence. In some fields, it rises faster, in others it is a long time to bear fruit. That is what we also see when we do evangelism, or to use simpler words: when we witness to our faith in Jesus Christ around us.
Some, the Holy Spirit converts faster to faith in Jesus than others. With some, the seed of the Gospel takes months, even years to bear fruit.
"Be patient" means us understand our Lord! "That the slowness with which the seed does not discourage you up and take you do not stop seeding. The seed is good. This is the only that can bring real life, real fruit. "
" What you see, after sowing, this may be fruit still green. Be patient. The Gospel continues to do its work. I have provided a vital force as you can trust that seed. The fruits do not delay. "
And the fruit that carries the Gospel that we are ultimately sow a beauty Outstanding. No other seed can produce them: Faith in Jesus Christ, a life lived in the certainty that God is reconciled to us, we have an ally in life, so sure that one day even death can nothing against us.
Meanwhile, sow, sow to continue with patience and have confidence in the power qu'al'Evangile to bear fruit.
X X X 4 X X X
Jesus calls us to trust him
about
DESTINATION
FRUITS OF OUR SOWING
"Once the fruit is ripe, he puts the sickle, because it is the time of harvest. " (v. 28)
The aim of any seed is to one day reap. Which farmer struggles to sow, if it was hopeless to harvest? Who among you would go to his job if he had the certainty of being paid back?
A parish who instructs her children in the catechism is hoping and praying that these children grow in knowledge and faith in their Lord and Savior, they will continue to grow toward spiritual maturity.
A parish like ours, which attempts to spread the Gospel among others - with our missionaries snacks, for example - would she do if she had the promise of fruit from his Lord?
Jesus tells us here that we can safely sow, we have every reason to be persistent with our sowing: there will be a harvest, there will be a return of the crop. The Gospel assures us.
An early "harvest" is already done in this life. Being received into the Kingdom of God through faith in Jesus Christ is already being "raised in the attic" Master (Mt 13.30), be adopted as a child, enjoying his presence and his blessing.
For more and more people are part of this "harvest" , sow, sow constantly.
Then one day, "The Lord of the harvest" (Mt 9.38) will decide that for me, for you, the time has come for us to find, according to the soul, "with him in Paradise" (Luke 23:43). This will be the day we die. To date, the reapers are the angels who bear our souls "in the bosom of Abraham" (Luke 16.22).
For more and more people are aware of this state, "what to many is the best" (Phil 1.23), even better than we can live more beautiful down here , sow, sow constantly!
Finally, the Day of Judgement, God will tell us, we who are planting a fruit divine, but also to all those who in our planting will mature : "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world! " (Mt 25.34)
For more and more people to the Day of Judgement, " take possession of the Kingdom " , sow, sow unabated, with faith in Harvest!
Amen.
Jean Thiébaut Haessig
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