Unum Centum | Hundredfold

"And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and hundredfold" – Mk 4: 20.

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We all have seen farmers preparing the soil before the cultivation. It takes quite a lot of time, energy and hard labour. After sowing the seeds, again it takes quite a lot of hard work till the field is ready for the harvest. God gives growth. 

Jesus uses such a parable so that all people can easily understand and grasp the meaning. But still some did not understand because they did not want to understand. A person who is hard hearted won't easily accept the Word of God. We all need the Holy Spirit to bear fruit in us after listening to the Word of God. Knowing the Word of God is knowing God himself. If you love God you will love the Word of God also. When you love God you will try to listen to him and put into practice what he speaks through his word. 

Jesus makes it very clear for us in John 14: 23 – "Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them." This is a great mystery as well as a great promise. If we want the Triune God to dwell in our souls, we need to just love the Word of God and try to put into practice. Let us not merely become the hearers but rather doers. 

It is a good practice to learn by heart a few Bible words and repeat them over and over. Let the Word of God sink into our hearts and I am sure we can bear fruits a hundredfold.

 

Reflection on Mk.4: 10-20 by Fr. George Joseph SVD

(Listen to the podcast here)

Sicut sol in regno (Mt. 13:43)

In our reality, we find a conflict in two poles between good and bad sides symbolized by black and white, day and night, light and dark. Jesus in the Gospel utilizes wheat and darnel to describe good and bad things. The good seed will grow together with darnel. When the harvest time comes, the Son of man will send His angels to pull out the wheat and the darnel and sort them out.

We believe in a powerful God. We can imagine that if God wills, He can negate evil and let the good seed grows. But, why are there bad things in our life? God has authority.  However, He gives humankind free will. By this gift, humankind can choose freely which side he or she goes through a good or a bad side. Nevertheless, God invites people to choose to become a good seed. Therefore, we can say, if the wheat and darnel grow together, we opt to walk with goodness even though badness overshadows.

It is too often that we make a bad choice in our life. We prefer to stay in the dark rather than to stay in the light. Nevertheless, our God is merciful. He accepts everyone who wants to come to Him like a Father who is glad to welcome His child. We are invited to come to God’s house, to choose and do good things in our life for the virtuous will and shine likes the sun in the Kingdom of God.

We have been baptized and we are the children of God. The light of God’s love shines upon us and He gives us free will. What is your option? Let us pray, may God pour out His Holy Spirit to guide our heart and mind to choose the best answer in our life. God bless us.

By Fr. Aris Mada, SVD.

Refugium et virtus (Ps. 46:2)

We should be very grateful to have a guarantee for safety, peacefulness, happiness  and joyfulness by surrendering our life in God's promise. We have no need to worry about things. This is a perfect thing needed by all people in the world. It is really comforting.

Facing of this Covid 19 pandemic era, all people are challenged and tested to keep holding the promise. We are seeing many people's fear, anxiety, sadness, and tears. But, we have to be grateful for the promise by understanding the story of a grain mustard seed and Heavenly Kingdom. I believe all of us still have a faith that expresses our love and belief to our  Lord, our Father in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit even it is only as big as the seed’s size, a tiny one. But we still can get the salvation and we can still  experience God's strength, almightiness, and even miracles in our life.

Having a tiny faith is a treasure. It has the power to pump itself to become huge. To keep persistently living in God and to keep doing things in His way  are defined as a faith, a treasure that we can get for free. Only one word that can tie this intimate and great relationship; the word of 'believe' and it is the fundamental requirement mentioned in John 3 :16. Praise God, He is really great..

One of the expressions believing our Lord is about our responsibility as ordered Matthew 22: 39, the great commandment of law. It is seemingly easy to be understood.  Loving God  is loving ourselves and other people as well. Keep alert by preventing ourselves from Corona virus desease 19 is part of our commitment to believe and love our Lord. Keep staying healthy and happy, keep washing our hands, and keep making a distance with others are part of our responsibities and part of our wisdom and faith as ordered in our source of life in the Holy Gospel. Doing these things persistently grow our resignation and hope in Him and there are  blessings and  salvation awaiting. Experiencing God's almightiness, God's miracle and God's love is by doing persistently His commandments  and teachings.  Amen.

Ceisy N. Wuntu.

Semen in agro (Mt. 13:24)

Every living creature longs for the rain which provides fertility and freshness. Like rain, God brings peace to the world and to humans. Sin has separated God and humans forever and ever and Jesus is a sign of peace. Jesus comes to pay off human’s sins and to re-tie the covenant between God and man. With the ransom of Jesus Christ, humans owe God even though God has never demanded humans to pay for it because Jesus Christ lived and died once to redeem for the sins of mankind and lift up people to be children of God. On the contrary, we are like soil on a roadside that receives the seed of God's Word but our faith is quickly eroded by external temptations. In addition, we are like rocky ground whose hearts are hard to accept God's word. Humans are also like soil full of thorns squeezed by worldly anxieties. God expects us to be like fertile soil where God's word flourishes and produces abundant fruit.

God also invites us to be the seeds of the living word of God. A seed contains the potential to grow and suffer. Rooted in the Word of God means we are ready to suffer for the sake of others and to grow to reach the glory of God. In oneself, there is potential for good spiritual fruit but selfishness keeps us from growing spiritually. Thus, we need God’s grace to help us get rid of our selfishness and listen to God’s willing. 

Lord God, we realize we are not enough in trusting You. We pray, increase our faith, Amen. 

By Fr. Aris Mada, SVD.