WEDNESDAY, SIXTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Ex 16: 1-5, 9-15 Ps 78: 18-19, 23-28 Mt 13: 1-9
GOD’S GRACIOUS LOVE AND CARE
God graciously cares for the people of Israel in the desert despite their grumbling and craving for the fleshpots of Egypt. The whole congregation grumbled against Moses and Aaron: “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt when we sat by meat pots and ate bread to the full!” The people rejected God’s saving plan and rebelled against Him. Yet God assured the people through Moses and supplied them with manna and quail.
The Gospel of Matthew presents seven parables about the kingdom of God. Each parable reveals a different aspect of the kingdom. By considering them together, we can understand this reality: the transforming power of God’s saving love that works secretly yet powerfully in our lives and throughout history. These parables are short, illustrative comparisons between simple life situations and the Gospel truths and values of the kingdom. They enable people to reflect on and grasp the impossible – if they have the good will to receive it, that is.
The parable of the Sower uses an agricultural setting. Jesus describes a farmer who sows seed; after a period of growth, he reaps the harvest. While some seeds face various soil problems, the harvest ultimately proves abundant. What does Jesus intend to teach us? The kingdom of God, symbolized by the seed, will certainly come to fruition despite opposition, if given the proper environment. Therefore, there should be no place for discouragement. After all, Jesus is no ordinary sower.
Jesus asserts that understanding the kingdom requires more than our natural faculties of sight and hearing. Only His close circle of followers; i.e., those who accompany Him in faith and love, can grasp the meaning of the kingdom He came to reveal. For those outside His sphere of influence, the parables remain mere stories without deeper meaning. God reveals His truth to the simple but obscures the understanding of the proud, leading to their own destruction.
Response: The Lord gave them bread from heaven.
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