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Friday – Third Week – OT1
Readings: Heb 10:11-18; Mk 4:1-20.
1/ Reading I: NAB Hebrews 10:11 Every priest stands daily at his ministry, offering frequently those same sacrifices that can never take away sins. 12 But this one offered one sacrifice for sins, and took his seat forever at the right hand of God; 13 now he waits until his enemies are made his footstool. 14 For by one offering he has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated. 15 The holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying: 16 “This is the covenant I will establish with them after those days, says the Lord: ‘I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them upon their minds,'” 17 he also says: “Their sins and their evildoing I will remember no more.” 18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer offering for sin.
2/ Gospel: NAB Mark 4:1 On another occasion he 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. 2 And he taught them at length in parables, and in the course of his instruction he said to them, 3 “Hear this! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched and it withered for lack of roots. 7 Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it and it produced no grain. 8 And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit. It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” 9 He added, “Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.” 10 And when he was alone, those present along with the Twelve questioned him about the parables. 11 He answered them, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been granted to you. But to those outside everything comes in parables, 12 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.'” 13 Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 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. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground who, when they hear the word, receive it at once with joy. 17 But they have no root; they last only for a time. Then when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Those sown among thorns are another sort. They are the people who hear the word, 19 but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word, and it bears no fruit. 20 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.”
Written by: Fr. Anthony Tien M. Dinh, O.P.
I. THEME: God’s word has potential to unlimitedly benefit for people.
Our forefathers believed that in order to be successful, one must have all three following elements: God’s will, the opportunity and people’s harmony will. Or there must be four correct elements: people, thing, place and time. Lacking one of these elements shall not guarantee the success or one shall not get his desired goal.
Today reading centralize on the co-operation between God and human being. In the first reading, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews compared the effectiveness of the old and the new sacrifice, and of the old and the new covenant. To him, the new covenant and Jesus’ sacrifice are more effective than the old covenant and the Old Testament’s sacrifices. In the Gospel, God’s word is compared to a seed. It has potential to benefit people, but how much it can benefit depending on the land which the seed is sowed into.
II. ANALYSIS:
1/ Reading I: “Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer offering for sin.”
1.1/ The effect of sacrifices: In the Old Testament, “Every priest stands daily at his ministry, offering frequently those same sacrifices that can never take away sins.” This can be seen through daily offering of the two lambs in the temple, one in the morning and one in the evening. It was also implied in the sacrificing of the animals on the Day of Atonement by the high priest.
In contrast to this, Christ “offered one sacrifice for sins, and took his seat forever at the right hand of God; now he waits until his enemies are made his footstool. For by one offering he has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated.” Jesus’ sacrifice can’t and has no need to repeat.
1.2/ The effect of the covenant: The old covenant was inscribed in two stony tablets, outside of human heart; but the new covenant was described by the prophet Jeremiah as follows: “The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of Egypt; for they broke my covenant and I had to show myself their master, says the Lord. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer will they have a need to teach their friends and kinsmen how to know the Lord. All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the Lord, for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more” (Jer 31:31-34). The author concluded, “Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer offering for sin.”
2/ Gospel: The result depends on the place which the seed is felt into.
Today parable wanted to emphasize two main points: First, the seed is God’s word, it has potential to benefit people as all other seeds. Secondly, the place where the seed is sowed into is the human mind. Whether the seed can benefit or how many can it yield depending on people’s preparation.
2.1/ Four places where God’s word is sowed into:
(1) On the path: Jesus said: “Some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up.” He explained: “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.” They are indifferent people; they regard God’s word as unimportant for their life.
(2) On rocky ground: Jesus said: “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.” Jesus explained: “These are the ones sown on rocky ground who, when they hear the word, receive it at once with joy. But they have no root; they last only for a time. Then when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.” These people don’t take time to deepen and to live God’s word, so it is easy for them to quit after a short time.
(3) Among throny bushes: Jesus said: “Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it and it produced no grain.” Jesus explained: “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.” Though they listened to God’s word, but don’t practice it. In addition to it, they chase after the attract of temporal glory or the pleasure of flesh.
(4) On fertile land: Jesus said: “And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit. It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” Jesus explained: “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.” They are those who listened, understood and put it into practice. Depending on their preparation, they profit thirty, sixty or one hundredfold.
2.2/ The secret of the mystery of the Kingdom: When Jesus 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.'”
When first hearing of these words, one can conclude that the mystery of the kingdom of God is only given to those who belong to God, and easily believes in the Predestination theory which states that whoever is predestined to be saved, God shall help them to understand and the reverse is also true. Such an understanding is incorrect because of the two following reasons:
(1) Mark illustrated Isaiah 6:10 of the LXX, but not the whole sentence, which said, “You are to make the heart of this people sluggish, to dull their ears and close their eyes; else their eyes will see, their ears hear, their heart understand, and they will turn and be healed.” The LXX used the first verb at aorist passive, “their heart was become sluggish,” and wanted to understand as such for two next expression, “their ears were become dull and their eyes closed.” This means the ones who are responsible for these results are people, not God. The MT text used the verbs at command voice: God said, “Make the heart of this people fat, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” This MT version seems to have God as the responsible one.
(2) If we pay attention to the context of the whole Scripture, this is only the Jewish way to express because they believe that all that happen in the world is under God’s providence. However, if we study Jesus and Isaiah’s life of preaching, we can see that even both of them tried to preach for people, but if people don’t open their heart to receive, their ears to hear and their eyes to see, how can they understand and practice their teaching? And if they don’t understand, how can they bear fruits? This is the goal which today passage aimed at.
III. APPLICATION IN LIFE:
– God’s word can bring unlimited benefit for us.
– How much God’s word can benefit depends on our attitude and ability to receive.
– We must prepare our mind before we listen to God’s word. We also need to spend much time to learn and to meditate, especially to let God’s word guide all things that happen in our life.