Clothed With The Word

𝐉𝐀𝐍. 𝟑𝟎, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐃 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈: 𝟐 𝐒𝐚𝐦 𝟏𝟏:𝟏-𝟏𝟎, 𝟏𝟑-𝟏𝟕

𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟓𝟏:𝟑-𝟕, 𝟏𝟎-𝟏𝟏 “𝐁𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥, 𝐎 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐤 𝟒:𝟐𝟔-𝟑𝟒

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “𝐇𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.” (𝐯.𝟑𝟒) 

         Today’s gospel reading spells out in very clear terms not just our calling, but it provides us with the foundation from which we can draw from to guide us on how to grow our church, ministries and apostolates.

        To begin, let me quote from a message at the Synod of Bishops in which it quoted the late Pope Benedict XVI who urged the Church throughout the world to reflect on “the new evangelization for the transmission of the Christian faith,” in order to sustain and direct the preaching and teaching of the Gospel in the diverse contexts in which the Church finds herself today to give witness.

        In the second statement of that same message the Bishops were in agreement that “it is not about starting again but entering into the long path of proclaiming the Gospel with the apostolic courage of Paul who would go so far as to say: “𝐖𝐨𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥!” (𝟏 𝐂𝐨𝐫 𝟗:𝟏𝟔).       

       The Church took note of the fact that throughout history, from the first centuries of the Christian era to the present, the Gospel has edified communities of believers in all parts of the world. Whether small or great, these are the fruit of the dedication of generations of witnesses to Jesus – missionaries and martyrs – whom we remember with gratitude.

         And today, Jesus used two parables to illustrate his teaching in this Gospel passage one of which can only be found in Mark’s Gospel. And the beauty of Mark’s gospel was that while he may not have the writing proficiency of Luke or the expansive style of Matthew, Mark writes using short but crisp verses that leaves room for the reader to either draw his own conclusion or rely on his imagination to connect the dots.

         As this parable follows that of the four types of soils (𝐯𝐯.𝟏-𝟐𝟎) and precedes the parable of the mustard seed (𝐯𝐯.𝟑𝟎-𝟑𝟐) it was clear that Jesus was referring to the seed as the Word of God that man sows and will see it sprout and grow but how it grows is a mystery (𝐯𝐯.𝟐𝟔-𝟐𝟖) but what was inevitable was that there would be a harvest (𝐯.𝟐𝟗).          

         This shows that man has no participation on how to make a seed grow. In fact, he does not even understand how it grows and what Jesus was saying here was that the seed has a life of its own and that while man may be able to discover things by himself, he has no power to create them much less create the Kingdom of God on earth.

         Jesus refers to the Kingdom of God to mean the reign of God and equating it with a seed that grows by itself points to the day when the Will of God will be done on earth as it is in heaven which is in fact the ultimate aim attached to the incarnation of God and perfected by his death on the cross.

         To understand this parable of the growing seed (𝐯𝐯.𝟐𝟔-𝟐𝟗) we have to first read through, reflect and understand the parable of the Sower (𝐌𝐤 𝟒:𝟏-𝟐𝟎) because it was here that Jesus compared the seed to the Word of God.

         For the seed which is the Word of God to grow it must fall on good soil which meant that the Word of God can only produce the desired fruit when it is planted in a man with a good and noble heart who hears the word, retains it and by persevering produce a crop (𝐋𝐤 𝟖:𝟏𝟓).

         And what Jesus was emphasizing was that the seed grows by virtue of the divine power that allows it to grow and that the Word will grow by itself when it is sown on good soil which is like the man with a good and noble heart.

         What this parable tells us is that the Word of God that is enshrined in the Sacred Scriptures will grow in us if we only place our complete trust in the power of the Word by receiving it into our own hearts, heeding and retaining it and through perseverance the reign of God will be manifest in our lives.

         More importantly, the Word of God will grow like a seed when we proclaim it to others, and this also turns us into a lampstand that will serve as a light for others. 

         Jesus used the parable of the mustard seed to illustrate how the Word of God grows from a small beginning until it takes root and grows into a tree that is rigid which serves as a shelter for birds in those days. And this was how the church grew from its humble beginnings when more than 3,000 were added to the 120 disciples who followed Jesus (𝐀𝐜 𝟐:𝟒𝟏-𝟒𝟐) until they numbered 5,000 (𝐀𝐜 𝟒:𝟒) and they continued to multiply throughout Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.

         The Catholic Church is firmly established in all the world’s continents, and the Word of God is spoken among different tribes and nations and all because of the good and noble hearts on which the seed was planted. Just like any other plant or tree, the Church as it is now begun from the small seed planted in the hearts of the Apostles and disciples who took over from where Jesus left off.

         And today, Our Lord Jesus Christ is asking us to keep nurturing this seed and this we can do if we will only immerse ourselves in the Word of God. I know of a charismatic community that grew by leaps and bounds over the years, but the life and light started to die down as the organizational structures, programs and projects became the priority of its leaders, forgetting the primary purpose for which the Church was established and that is to proclaim the Good News to others.

         This community has good leaders, good members but it now finds itself in a bind due to dwindling membership and low level of tithing. Why? Because there was something this community forgot to do. It did not evangelize itself. Thus, how could you expect a community that has not been evangelized to be able to evangelize others.

         The small seed that Jesus planted and which the Apostles and disciples nurtured at the cost of even their own lives will continue to grow if we will only persevere. The following computation is what I have been imagining as what should happen when we evangelize. If say for example that we gather 10 members in our Ministry who will succeed in converting one person a year and those who have been converted would do the same, the growth pattern would look like this: Year 1 = 20; Year 5 = 320; Year 10 – 10,240; Year 15 = 327,680 and, on the 20th Year your Community would have 10,485,760 members altogether and all it took was just for one of 10 members to go out and proclaim the Kingdom of God is at hand to one person a year. This is what the adage “big things come in small packages” mean.

         For this to happen, we should all internalize what it was like for the disciples who were alone with Jesus who explained to them the true meaning of the parables (𝐯𝐯.𝟑𝟑-𝟑𝟒) which was like the experience of the two disciples on their way to Emmaus (𝐋𝐤 𝟐𝟒:𝟏𝟑-𝟑𝟓).        

        To be with Jesus is to dwell in the Word of God regularly that is premised on our willingness to shun the cares of the world that only choke our spiritual growth and to transform ourselves into a good and noble heart to be able to grasp the fuller meaning of the Word of God.

         We are obliged to assimilate the vision of Christ and his reign can only be established in our hearts when we begin to listen intently to the Word of God that is amplified in the homilies during the Mass, reflecting on the Word of God regularly if not daily, joining a Bible Study in the Church or Community or start one in your home, keeping watch with Jesus at the Adoration Chapel and, by receiving the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist as often as possible.         

          Our role, as Christian disciples especially for those who have signed a covenant with Our Lord, is to sow the seed, become the good and noble heart by trusting God and wait for God to complete it in us (𝐏𝐡𝐢 𝟏:𝟔). This is possible when we abandon our lives to Jesus Christ and be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. Paul confirms this when he said: “𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐣𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥-𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐮𝐬.” (𝟐 𝐂𝐨𝐫 𝟒:𝟕)           

          In simpler terms, our entire nature should be clothed with the Word of God, day in and day out. I’m not saying that we forego all our other obligations such as work, family time, prayer time, going to Mass and similar spiritual activities. What I’m saying is that the Word of God should be firmly carved in our hearts such that we can draw on the power of God’s Word when we share Christ with others. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘑𝘢𝘯. 30, 2026)

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