2nd February Trinity
Luke 8:14-18
And as a great crowd had gathered, and ever more people streamed to him
out of the cities, he spoke in a parable:
A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some seed fell on the
path. It was trodden upon, and the birds of the sky (air) ate it up. Other seed
fell upon the rocks, and as it sprouted, it (the sprouting green) withered,
because it had no moisture. Still other seed fell under the thorns; the thorns
grew with it and choked what came up. And some fell upon good soil, grew, and
brought forth fruit a hundredfold. When he had said these things, he called
out:
“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
His disciples
asked him what this parable might mean. And he said:
To you it has been given the gift of being able to understand the
mysteries of the kingdom
of God
The seed is the Word of God. That which fell upon the path are those who
hear it; afterwards the tempter comes and tears the Word out of their hearts,
so that they cannot find healing through the trusting power of faith working in
them.
Those on the rock are those who, when they hear the Word, take it up
with joy; but they remain without root. For a while the power of their faith
works in them, but in times of trial they fall away.
What fell under the thorns are those who hear the Word from the spirit,
and as they go on their way, the sorrows and the riches and the joys of life
choke it, and they bring no fruit to maturity.
And the seed which fell in the good soil are those who hear the Word,
and take it up into their hearts, feel its beauty, become noble and worthy and
patiently keep it alive, tending it there until it brings forth fruit.
No one lights a light and hides it under a vessel or under a bench;
instead he places it on a lamp stand so that all who come in see the light. For
nothing is hidden which shall not be revealed, and nothing is secret which
shall not be known and proclaimed.
So attend to how you listen. For he who has enlivened in himself the
power to bear the spirit, to him more will be given. He however who does not
have this power, from him will be taken that which he thinks he has.
2nd February
Trinity
Feb 10, 2013
Luke 18: 18-34
A seed seems stripped of everything in the plant that gave
it meaning—no leaves, no roots. Buried in the earth it has no access even to
light itself. And yet….
And yet deep in its core, the seed harbors the possibility
of new life, of creating new leaves, new roots; of finding the light again.
Our lives also have their seed moments, moments, days, weeks
when that which gives our life meaning may be taken away from us; when we may
feel enveloped in darkness.
 |
| Fra Angelico, Descent into Hell |
And yet, despite all this, deep in the core of our being
there is the seed of new life. For Christ has planted Himself as the seed of
Life in the depths of every human heart.
In this gospel reading, the rich young man is encouraged to
voluntarily strip away everything that has given his life meaning, strip
himself of his riches. He is to go into the depths. There he will find Christ’s
love waiting for him, as the seed of a new kind of life.
Christ even reminds us that Himself descended into the
deepest depths of human experience. He volunteered to be eternally present in
the depths of every human situation. When we come to the end of our own
resources, that is just where we will find Him. As Rilke said,
I love the dark hours of my being.
My mind deepens into them.
…..
Then the knowing comes: I can open
to another life that's wide and
timeless.[1]
[1]
Ranier Maria Rilke, Rilke’s Book of Hours: Love Poems to God, trans. by
Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy
Picture: Descent into Hell, Fra Angelico
No comments:
Post a Comment