January 27, 2021, WednesdayWednesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time (Green)
Saint Angela Merici, Virgin - Opt. Mem. (White)
CYCLE B - YEAR I
RDGS: HEB 10:11-18/ PS 110:1. 2. 3. 4
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."
GOSPEL REFLECTION:
The human heart is like a field that can, at different times, be open or closed. The word of God comes to us as we are, with our faults and failings, our gifts and talents. We bear fruit each in our own way at our own time.
Sometimes the fruit is big - a hundredfold, other times less so. In prayer we offer our hearts to God and, with God's help, bear whatever fruit we can just at the moment. It is God's word that is sown in us and, even in strange ways, it is God who gives the increase.
PRAYER:
If your word is like a seed, Lord, then it is an organism, with a life of its own. My part is to receive it, give it roots and depth so that it survives hardships; and protect it from the thorns of multiple cares and desires. If I allow your word some space in my life, there is no limit to the fruit it may bear.
