July 13, 2014- Mt.
13:1-23, The Parable Of The Seed
13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the
lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat
in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things
in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering
the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some
fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly,
because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were
scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among
thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good
soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to
the people in parables?”
11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the
kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will
be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even
what they have will be taken from them. 13 This is why I speak to them in
parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing,
they do not hear or understand.
14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever
seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear
with their ears,
and they have
closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their
ears,
understand with
their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’[a]
16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears
because they hear. 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people
longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but
did not hear it.
18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19
When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the
evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed
sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who
hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no
root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of
the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers
to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the
deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed
falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it.
This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times
what was sown.”
Reflection:
First of all, I would like to admit that
there were times in my life when I became
like the seeds that fell along the path or on the patches of rock or on
the briers. My faith experience, like
anyone else, is also challenged at times as it gradually grows into
maturity.
However, I want to make my faith
experience as a seed that falls on a good soil as an inspiration to others.
I see my life today as a seed that
falls on the good soil. I live a very
peaceful life. How did I get a peaceful
life? Simple, I pray to God and live a life of humility and submission, I practice
a disciplined lifestyle and I live a
life of good and happy relationship with others. What do I mean with this?
First, I pray to God and live a life
of humility and submission. The message of God makes me decide to establish a
good relationship with Him. Then I
personally believe that prayer is the best way to nurture that relationship
with Him. So I keep on praying to Him
day and night and I discover that I am getting close with Him. I feel Him as a Father, a Brother, a Friend,
and a Counsel. I feel Him very close to me. Since I am getting close with Him, it
becomes easy for me to hear and understand what He wants and likes for my
life. Because, I feel Him as a loving
Father God, I decided to submit myself to His will. I try to follow what He wants for me like
living a life of humility. I discover further
that humility brings a lot of good things to me like one day my father was
punched straight on his face by a co-senior citizen during their chapter
meeting. He fell to the ground without
anybody helped him up. My mom called all
her children to act upon it and asked justice for my dad. I, being the eldest among children, led the
group to a decision of forgiving the aggressor instead of pursuing on the
case. This act for me is an act of
humility and forgiveness. This
eventually brought continued peace to our family after that challenge. Our decision of forgiving the aggressor and
forgetting the human violation gave our family a sustained peace. For me this attitude is humility and
submission to the will of God. God is a
God of humility. Listening, therefore,
to this message is listening to God.
Hence, the words of God bear many fruits in my life.
Second, I practice a disciplined
lifestyle. God’s word is telling me that
the best life is to abide with what is natural.
I believe in it because I believe that God is Lord of nature. With nature there is a balance. God made nature as the best picture of
balance and interconnectedness. God sees
to it that what He creates is always good and even very good (Gen.1:1-31). So I live with this principle. Excesses in a lifestyle is always a threat to
life and to the self. For example,
taking too much soft drinks and sweets
make one sick of diabetes and kidney stones; taking too much fats and cholesterol makes one sick
of high blood; the attitude of prolonging urination makes one sick of UTI; a
person who works very hard and not provide himself a good rest will suffer from
over fatigue; a man who does a lot of
abuses on his own life will surely suffer confusion if not perdition. The abovementioned abuses are clear examples
of how man can destroy his own life and suffer from bad preferences. As for me, I enjoy a good health because I
discipline my lifestyle. I keep on eating
vegetables everyday; I take minimal amount of soft drink and I practice water
therapy every thirty minutes; I avoid eating fatty foods and I do physical
exercises; I sleep early in the evening
and nap every noon time; I do not smoke; and I drink alcohol minimally. A disciplined lifestyle therefore is a
healthy lifestyle. Life is intended to
be simple and so I did not complicate it.
Hence, the result of this disciplined life is peace and happiness. To listen to my nature therefore is to listen
to my good God.
Third and last, I
live a life of good and happy relationship with others. This means a lot of things. I know that my relationship with God should
bring me to love and serve others too.
Because I enjoy the love of God for me, I also enjoy giving out love and
services to others. I really enjoy serving others. If I happen to bring extra foods from school
parties, I always give them to our neighbors who are deprived of good
food. I always wear a good smile and
greet everybody to warm up their day. I
am fond of bringing my guitar and singing birthday songs to co-teachers/workers
or my students who are celebrating their birthdays. I do not oppose the ideas of others which I
do not agree with. I am fond of just
letting people express their ideas freely without disagreeing with them. I am a good listener. I listen to concerns
and problems of others. I am also fond
of cracking humors in order to make others happy. In so doing, I realize that I
am making a lot of friendships. With all
these, I am happy with my life. I am
very much contented. My heart believes
that I am doing exactly the will of God.
I am convinced that this contentment, peace and joy that I experience
are all happening because I make myself
the good soil that receives the holy Word of God.
And so, there are
many specific ways on how to be the seed that falls on the good soil. But, I believe that establishing a good
relationship with God in prayer, humility and submission, disciplined
lifestyle, and good relationship with others are key activities to make oneself
the good soil of God’s word.
Reflection by: Esmeraldo C. Suarez
Grade 7- CLE Teacher
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