The Parable of the Sower

The kingdom of heaven is a manifestation of such a strange man that it does not understand it without God’s revelation. Nor did Christ’s disciples understand him. They did not understand and could not understand him for his divine side. Only Christ’s words partially reveal the screen of this mystery. In particular, by parables, he sought to bring them nearer and make them understandable “according to how they were able to listen” (Mark 4:33). In one of them, of the sown seed, he says: “With the kingdom of God, it is as if a man throws the seed into the earth; whether he sleeps or gets up, night or day, the seed germinates and grows, and he doesn’t even know about it. The earth itself yields crops: first the stalk, then the ear, and finally the full grain in the ear. And when the harvest ripens, he shall immediately put the sickle, for the harvest has come ”(Mk 4: 26-29).

Through this sweet and short parable, which many consider as a continuation of the parable of the sower, Jesus explains the importance of the Kingdom of God, pointing out in it his own role. He does his job and leaves. The sowed seed sprouts, grows and matures once, but in a way and rhythm that remains a mystery to man forever. The seed grows and matures until harvest; in biblical language until the end of the world (Mt 13: 30). Only then will the Divine Sower come to harvest (Rev. 14, 14-16); that is, at the time of harvest, never immediately after harvest, as many disciples had expected (Lk 19: 11). This gives us an admonition to patience (Jn 5: 7) and solid trust. The world is not moving towards disaster, but to harvest. Once the seed matures when God’s plans with creation are finished. Meanwhile, the promised Christ’s second coming is to be expected: “Be like the people who await their master … as He comes and knocks” (Lk 12:36).

In this parable, Jesus emphasizes the cooperation of man with God’s grace. But here he must also realize that the decisive part of salvation is done by God, man is only a collaborator. The inner power of grace is so powerful here that it will even replace human inadequacy if one has good will. And this forces one to a good life. O bl. William Aiselin (+ 1588), a novice from the Premonstratensian monastic order, reads that once he listened to the Last Judgment, he wept. He was very afraid of God’s judgment. His superior told him, “This important truth is not revealed to us to haunt us, but to encourage us to a righteous life.”

In Gogol’s novel Reviser, we read how the chief of the town, along with a group of officials, will not take over abuses and swindling. But he is afraid of the arrival of a government commissioner. When they arrive, they try to bribe, demoralize, and draw into their machinations. But it turns out that the guest who came is not who they consider him to be. Instead, there is a genuine reviewer, before which you really need to be held accountable for abuse of your position and mission. End of the world – billing. Yes, it really will. But the end of my life and yours will come first. We leave, we die, we are judged. How do we stand? “If the righteous is hard to save, where will the wicked and the sinner go? (1 Pt 4: 18).

Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875), a Danish writer and playwright, at the end of his life, as a famous old man, wrote his own biography with the distinctive title: A Fairy Tale of My Life, which he completed in the year of his death: “My Life” “It was a real fairy tale, so rich and loving.” I wish every one of us could say that when the end of our lives came. So, let us make good resolutions in time to fulfill our lives as God wants us to “give a good answer in the rigorous judgment of Christ” (from the liturgy of St. John the Golden Spirit). And let us believe that if we show good will to salvation, the one who began the work of salvation in us will even finish it (Phil 1: 6).
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Forgiveness is the power that raises a person into a new life and infuses courage to look into the future with hope.
Franciscus PP.

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