Hear and Act

A theme in the texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary is the consequence of hearing the Word of God. The Gospel passage from Mark today concludes with “they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold”. (Mark 4.20) This describes the situation of the Seed from the Sower landing in fertile soil. Earlier verses in this passage (Mark 4.10-12) have raised questions about the intended audience for the parables of Jesus. Is the truth of the teaching of Jesus meant to be revealed to a remnant of the people as in the time of Isaiah or as some commentators have noted the realization of the teaching of Jesus in Mark’s Gospel is action. Don Schwager emphasizes that an open mind and a hunger for truth prepare the soil for reception of the message to act in Love. The soil must be worked for it to work at fruitful yields. The text from the second book of Samuel is presented by David Moster as a key passage in the Hebrew Bible which firmly establishes a Covenant with David which is the seed of the messianic promise of the Presence of God with Israel. In the case of David, the Prophet Nathan was able to convey to the king that God had a plan for David which was not what the king wanted. The acceptance of the Will of God by David is a model for us to seek open and active understanding of how we can hear the Word and be fertile soil for the growth of the Kingdom.